US EditionThis 2,200-Year-Old Roman Wreck Hid a Repair Story that Rewrites How Ancient Ships Survived Long Voyages
Researchers found four to five coating layers and pollen traces that point to repeated repairs as the ship moved across the Adriatic.
- Researchers from France and Croatia analyzed the 2,200-year-old Roman shipwreck Ilovik-Paržine 1, revealing sophisticated waterproofing techniques in findings published in Frontiers in Materials. The vessel was treated with multiple distinct coatings of pine tar and beeswax.
- Archaeometrist Armelle Charrié-Duhaut of the University of Strasbourg explained that organic waterproofing materials were essential for ancient navigation. The team examined 10 coating samples using structural, molecular, and pollen analyses to characterize these overlooked naval technologies.
- Pollen trapped within the coatings revealed the ship underwent four to five repair phases across the Mediterranean. The vessel was likely built near Brindisi, Italy, then refurbished multiple times with materials from various coastal environments during its journeys.
- Analysis revealed a mixture of beeswax and tar, known as zopissa, which Greek shipbuilders used to improve adhesive flexibility. This discovery illustrates extensive circulation of technical knowledge and technological transfer across the Mediterranean basin during the Roman Republic.
- Organic archaeomaterials provide unprecedented information about past naval technologies, serving as "true witnesses" of ancient shipbuilding traditions. These historically overlooked coatings demonstrate how Roman vessels were maintained for extended periods across trade routes throughout the Adriatic.
24 Articles
24 Articles
RECIT - A small Roman cargo ship of the 2nd century B.C. is drowned at a shallow depth off the coast of Croatia, revealing the "recipe" of an ancient glue mixing coniferous resin and bee wax and keeping the memory of the ports where the ship was built, maintained and repaired.
Ancient Roman Shipwreck in Croatia Reveals Greek Influence in Shipbuilding and Repairs
View of the excavation of the bow area of the Ilovik-Paržine 1 shipwreck. Credit: L. Damelet, CNRS/CCJ / CC BY 4.0 A 2,200-year-old Roman shipwreck in Croatia has revealed new details about how ancient sailors protected, repaired, and maintained ships that crossed the Adriatic Sea, with new evidence pointing to Greek influence in shipbuilding techniques. The study, led by Armelle Charrie-Duhaut and published in Frontiers in Materials, examined t…
Daily Journal
Forensic analysis of Roman shipwreck reveals something new
Researchers looked at pollen trapped in the waterproofing layers of the long sunken Roman Republic ship to find proof of this.
More than two thousand years ago, a wreck from the Roman Republic sank off the coast of what is now Croatia. Archaeologists discovered the ship, which they named Ilovik-Paržine 1, in 2016 and have since studied both the ship and its cargo on several occasions.Continue reading...
Roman-Era Wreck Reveals How Ships Were Built to Last 2,000 Years Ago
During the mighty reign of the Roman Empire, thousands of years ago, technology was built to last. From a ship that sank in the Adriatic Sea some 2,200 years ago, archaeologists are discovering the techniques Roman-era shipbuilders used to keep their vessels seaworthy for years after construction. The ancient wood reveals not only that the ship was cleverly waterproofed with pitch, but that it underwent renewed coating at different ports over th…
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