A 12 metres long monolith, a valuable proof of a submerged settlement during the Mesolithic age, has been discovered at the bottom of the Strait of Sicily. Thanks to the circumstantial evidence found by geologists from the OGS, the National Institute of Oceanography and Experimental Geophysics in Trieste, scuba divers identified the big stone block about 40 metres deep.

The discovery of an historical find dating back to 9.500 years ago, when the sea level was much lower than it is today, represents an important milestone to rebuild the roots of the civilisation of the Mediterranean basin.

The analysis carried out by the OGS, in cooperation with the University of Tel Aviv, the Carabinieri (Italian military police) and the professional scuba divers of the Global Underwater Explorers, allowed to restrict the area of the submerged archaeological site, between the Sicilian coasts and the Island of Pantelleria, then swallowed up by rising sea-level caused by the last ice melting phenomenon.