AN ANCIENT Roman ship downed by a storm has been found centuries later at a holiday hotspot – and there’s even treasure on board.
The 2,000-year-old discovery was made mere metres from a popular beachfront – and baffled researchers claim the ship is still in great condition.
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The archaeological sensation was unearthed along the Dalmatian Coast in Croatia this month, almost two millennia after it sunk.
Its timbers even “look like they were just carved”, according to the gobsmacked research team.
Divers suspected there might be a wreck at the Roman port of Barbir after discovering an antique plank with a metal nail in 2020.
Five years later, the entire 42-foot vessel has now been revealed, along with a haul of ancient coins.
One of them even included the ancient Roman emperor, Trajan.
The incredible shipwreck lies in the village of Sukošan just a few miles south of Zadar, one of Croatia’s biggest tourist destinations.
The International Centre for Underwater Archaeology, which led the excavation, said the ship was likely lost in a storm.
Director Mladen Pešić said: “As the evidence shows us, the ship was docked in the harbour.
“It was found just in front of the pier, so we suppose that due to the bad weather the ropes could be broken and the ship might have hit the shore.”
He added: “Broken stern elements give us evidence of this, since this beam that belongs to the keel was split like it hit a hard surface.
“The ship was probably in such bad condition that the owners decided to leave it on the bottom of the harbour.”
Radiocarbon analysis dates the ship to the first or second century AD – roughly the period of Trajan’s reign.
And though the ship was damaged enough to sink, it is in surprisingly good condition for its age.
Dr Pešić said: “The preserved ship was almost 13 meters in length and 3.5m in width.
“Many different elements were preserved – keel, planks, frames, ceilings, and many elements of the ship’s upper construction.”
He continued: “It is quite well preserved; some of the planks and frames look like they were just carved.”
The construction of the vessel suggests it was built to carry heavy loads over medium-to-long distances.
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And the artefacts found on board point to the same conclusion.
Dr Pešić said there were many shards of “pottery, glass, and other archaeological material” that could be connected with ship and the port.
“Most interesting are two complete jugs that were part of the ship’s equipment,” he explained.
“As we found many olive pits on it, we suppose that at the moment of sinking, the ship was transporting olives for further processing or for sale.”
The ship will now be preserved in-situ, being covered with a protective geotextile membrane and reburied in the sand.
But a recreation of the ship is planned for public display.
Dr Pešić said: “The plan is to make a 1:10 scale reconstruction of the existing ship construction in order to make a predictive model of ship how it looked in Roman times.”
Excavation of the ship was the work of a multinational team, including experts from Croatia, France, Poland, Germany, and the UK.
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