2,000-year-old Roman cargo ship with olive and fruit remains found in Croatia's Barbir Bay
The International Centre for Underwater Archaeology in Zadar finished the final phase of research on a Roman-era shipwreck resting in Barbir Bay near the village of Sukošan, Croatia. Over four years the team uncovered the entire 12.5-meter vessel and photographed it daily, later combining hundreds of overlapping images into detailed three-dimensional models.
“We came across one piece of wood with an iron nail, which told us there could be something more,” said Mladen Pešić, director of the centre, according to a report by Newsweek. “The following year we explored the wider area and discovered a Roman shipwreck. Four and a half years later we have uncovered the whole ship.”
The wreck first drew attention in 2021 during routine probes of what had been a Roman harbor, when researchers lifted a 2,000-year-old plank from the sediment. Excavation showed that the hull, dating to the 1st–2nd century CE, survived almost intact and still retained parts of its upper structure. Specialists from the University of Toruń, the Max Planck Institute, Aix-Marseille University, the French firm Ipso Facto, and the Croatian company NavArchos joined the Zadar team to conserve and record the find.
On board, archaeologists recovered hundreds of olive pits along with remains of grapes, peaches, and walnuts. The same mix appeared in the nearby harbor layers, pointing to an agricultural trade hub that likely supplied a coastal Roman estate. “This is a very precise and stable type of construction, built to carry heavy loads on medium to long voyages,” said Anton Divić, owner of NavArchos, according to the Croatian daily Jutarnji List.
Kato Nees, a doctoral student at Aix-Marseille Université, called the vessel “exceptionally preserved, with a construction length of 12 meters and many parts still intact on the southern side,” reported Jutarnji List. Wood specialist Alba Ferreira Dominguez examined more than three hundred samples from the hull and said she aimed to learn why the builders chose three different timber species for distinct parts of the ship.
After digital documentation is complete, the structure will be covered with geotextile and reburied under protective sand. Lifting the hull would be technically possible but prohibitively expensive, so Divić announced plans for a 1:10 scale model that will go on display at the Zadar Centre for Underwater Archaeology.
Based on current evidence, the ship probably sank during foul weather. Its cargo and medium-range design suggest it served day-to-day coastal trade rather than the long-distance grain convoys of imperial commerce. Other recent discoveries, such as Roman terracotta jars recovered off Italy in 2023 and a Greek merchant ship located off Bulgaria in 2018, show that the seafloor still holds many clues about ancient Mediterranean exchange.
Produced with the assistance of a news-analysis system.
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