2,000-Year-Old Roman Shipwreck Discovered in Croatia

An mentation of an past shipwreck. Credit: GreekReporter Archive

Archaeologists person uncovered a remarkably well-preserved Roman shipwreck successful Barbir Bay, Croatia, wherever it laic undisturbed for astir 2,000 years.

The vessel, measuring astir 12.5 meters (41 feet), dates to the 1st–2nd period AD and offers 1 of the astir implicit examples of past seafaring successful the Adriatic. It was archetypal detected 4 years agone by researchers from the International Centre for Underwater Archaeology successful Zadar during a survey of the Roman harbor astatine Barbir.

The archetypal find — a portion of timber with an robust nail — hinted astatine thing much significant. When the squad expanded its hunt the pursuing year, it confirmed the beingness of a Roman ship. After 4 years of cautious investigation, the last signifier of excavation has present revealed the vas successful full.

Rare glimpse into Roman shipbuilding

Mladen Pešić, manager of the International Centre, stated that the lengthy probe and exploration process yet led to the implicit uncovering of the ship. He described it arsenic an bonzer discovery, preserved successful exceptional information aft lying beneath the seabed for 2 millennia.

What makes the wreck particularly invaluable is the endurance of parts of its precocious structure, a uncommon constituent successful past shipwrecks. The find gives researchers a unsocial accidental to survey Roman shipbuilding techniques successful detail.

Evidence of commercialized and agriculture

Excavations revealed hundreds of olive pits wrong the wreck, portion grapes, peaches, and walnut shells were recovered successful the harbour area. These remains suggest the vas transported cultivation produce, astir apt from adjacent estates.

Anton Divić, caput of the Croatian underwater archaeology institution NavArchos, stated that the vessel was designed for stableness and endurance, built to transportation dense cargo implicit mean and agelong distances. He added that vessels of this benignant were cardinal to commercialized and regular beingness on the Adriatic seashore 2 1000 years ago.

A 1:10 standard exemplary of the vessel volition beryllium created and displayed astatine the Zadar Centre for Underwater Archaeology.

Preservation done integer recording

To grounds the wreck with precision, the squad has been producing photogrammetric models by compiling hundreds of overlapping photographs. Because raising the vas would beryllium prohibitively expensive, it volition stay connected the seabed.

Once afloat documented, the vessel is covered with geotextile and reburied nether sand, replicating the earthy extortion that kept it intact for centuries.

International designation and collaboration

The project is supported by Croatia’s Ministry of Culture and Media and has already gained planetary attention. In 2024, the shipwreck was featured successful National Geographic’s “Lost Treasures of Rome” and the American bid “Changing Seas,” showcasing Croatia’s underwater practice to planetary audiences.

This season’s excavation included not lone Croatian experts but besides specialists from Poland’s Nicolaus Copernicus University, Germany’s Max Planck Institute, France’s Aix-Marseille University, the French steadfast Ipso Facto, and Croatia’s NavArchos.

The find is regarded arsenic 1 of the astir important examples of Roman maritime practice successful the Adriatic, offering uncommon penetration into the region’s trade, agriculture, and seafaring traditions.