Marine archaeology. Archaeologist cleaning an anchor recovered from the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of the Italian island of Sicily. This anchor was recovered from the underwater volcano Ferdinandea. The summit of Ferdinandea is only a few metres below the surface of the sea. Volcanic activity on Ferdinandea has been reported for over 2000 years, and the volcano has emerged from the sea, and then eroded away again, several times. One of the most recent emergences, in 1831, led to a territorial dispute between Sicily, France and England. Several ships from those countries visited the island before January 1832, by which time it had been eroded away by the sea.