VIDEO: 7,000 year-old road found under sea off Croatian island of Korčula
- by croatiaweek
- in News
(YouTube/Screenshot/Mate Parica)
An amazing discovery as archaeologists have discovered a road that is 7,000 years old buried beneath layers of sea mud near the Croatian island of Korčula over the weekend. The road and a settlement were found at a depth of five meters, daily 24sata reported.
The leader of the research team, Igor Borzić from the Archaeology Department at the University of Zadar, noticed strange structures in the sea in the Gradina Bay, which led the archaeological team to discover an identical settlement to the one found in Soline at a depth of four to five meters.
In addition to the road, Neolithic artifacts such as stone knives, stone axes, and fragments of millstones were found at the site. The road connected the island with the coast.
Although the underwater archaeological exploration began due to the Soline site, the team found a road that connected the submerged prehistoric settlement of Hvar culture with the coast of Korčula island. According to the University of Zadar, “these are complex stone slabs that were part of a four-meter-wide communication network that connected an artificially created island with the coast.”
The settlement beneath the mud layers dates back to the 5th century BC. Through radiocarbon analysis of the preserved wood found in the previous campaign, the entire settlement dates back to the 5th century BC, and people, they added, walked on this road seven thousand years ago.
This research is the result of collaboration between several institutions and companies. Along with the leader, Mate Parica from the University of Zadar, Domagoj Perkić (Dubrovnik Museums), Ivan Šuta and Vedran Katavić (Museum of the City of Kaštela), Katarina Batur (University of Zadar), Marta Kalebota (City Museum of Korčula), Eduard Visković (Kantharos), and with the assistance of Dalibor Ćosović from the Lumbarda Blue diving center were also involved in the research.
On the other side of the Korčula island, archaeologists from the University of Zadar are conducting land surveys near the Gradina Bay, close to Vela Luka.
Watch the video below.
