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Archaeologists from the University of Warsaw have discovered a concentration of shipwrecks near the ancient port of Ptolemais in northern Libya... one of the five cities that formed the Pentapolis of Cyrenaica, established by the Ptolemaic dynasty between the late 4th and 3rd centuries BC. The city emerged as a major hub for maritime trade until the Arab conquest in the 7th century AD.Covering a stretch of over 100 metres, the large concentration of submerged material suggests that multiple shipwrecks accumulated over time as a navigational danger for ships approaching the harbour.After a 13-year hiatus due to the Libyan civil...

Spanish archaeologists have documented over 30 shipwrecks in the waters between the Rock of Gibraltar and the port of Algeciras.This discovery follows a three-year study titled Project Herakles. Led by the University of Cádiz, the team identified 151 archaeological sites and 134 total wrecks, according to The Guardian...The researchers worked with colleagues from the University of Granada to document 34 specific wrecks.These vessels represent a diverse array of eras and cultures:Punic era: One ship dating back to the fifth century B.C.Roman period: 23 Roman ships and two late Roman ships.Medieval period: Four vessels, including three that may clarify seafaring practices...

Science in Poland reports that several shipwrecks have been found off the coast of Libya, near a shallow rock formation at the ancient Greek port of Ptolemais. The city was founded by Egypt's Ptolemaic Dynasty between the late fourth and third centuries B.C., and remained an active port until the seventh century A.D. "This is a place where disasters must have occurred periodically," said Piotr Jaworski of the University of Warsaw. He and Bartosz Kontny were conducting an underwater survey when they saw the 300-foot-long stretch of shipwrecks. "Over the centuries, the level of the Mediterranean Sea has risen slightly,...

Let the Stones Speak The earliest evidence of a grouping of iron blooms has been discovered in a shipwreck off the Carmel coast. A recent study announcing the discovery was published in NPJ Heritage. According to the researchers, the analysis of the ancient cargo "provides unique and unprecedented insight into early bloom production, handling and maritime transport during the Iron Age" -- around 2,600 years ago, the time of the biblical King Josiah. On today's program, host Brent Nagtegaal interviews lead author Prof. Tsilla Eshel of the School of Archaeology and Maritime Cultures, University of Haifa, about the discovery. Israeli...

According to the Greek Reporter, an international team of researchers has conducted a survey of the seafloor off the northern coast of the Greek island of Karpathos. The team members identified archaeological sites dating from the later seventh century B.C. through the mid-nineteenth century A.D. The sites include four ancient shipwrecks and one modern one; traces of an ancient port, shipwreck cargo packed in amphoras; and more than 20 anchors dated to the Byzantine period. To read about a famous monument on a neighboring Greek island, go to "Secrets of the Seven Wonders: Colossus of Rhodes."

One study by Texas A&M in the late 1980s suggests the masses are from shipwrecks or piles of ballast stones from Spanish or French vessels. Man says he's found evidence of ancient civilization in St. Bernard | 4:35WWLTV | 631K subscribers | 30,266 views | March 2, 2022

From the island of Kekova, off the southern coast of Turkey, renowned underwater archaeologist Hakan Öniz takes viewers on a journey through the underwater wonders of Turkey. Turkey's Island of 400 Ancient Shipwrecks The SpeciaList | BBC | 4:04 BBC Global | 717K subscribers | 32,063 views | November 24, 2024

...there are still many in academia who claim that changes to the climate and the outbreak of plague were catastrophic for the eastern Roman Empire... Our findings reveal that there was no decline in the 6th century, but rather a new record in population and trade in the eastern Mediterranean...Previous research claimed that this site declined in the middle of the 6th century... The decline only started in the 7th century.Large-scale data included new databases compiled using archaeological survey, excavation and shipwreck finds. The survey and excavation databases, which were made up of tens of thousands of sites, were used...

In the depths of the ocean, there are countless undiscovered shipwrecks. Ranging from old sailing vessels, to massive cargo haulers. Most of these wouldn't get even a bit of interest. However, when you limit yourself to *warships*, well, that changes. And in today's video, we'll be looking at another five missing wrecks. Consider this something of a sequel to the video I made a couple years back, after Nautilus visited Midway. In light of their upcoming Guadalcanal survey, this felt fitting.

The National Museum of Denmark has confirmed that two 18th-century shipwrecks in Cahuita National Park, long thought to be pirate ships, are the Danish slave ships Fridericus Quartus and Christianus Quintus, which sank in 1710. The identification was announced on Sunday, resolving decades of speculation about the wrecks off Costa Rica’s Caribbean coast. The ships were identified through underwater excavations in 2023, which analyzed ship timbers, cargo blocks, clay pipes, and other artifacts. In 2015, U.S. archaeologists from East Carolina University discovered yellow bricks, specific to Danish manufacturing in Flensburg, among the wreckage, prompting renewed investigation. The wrecks, located on...

Spanish archaeologists have successfully removed a 2,600-year-old shipwreck from waters off the country's southeastern coast...It was discovered in 1994 off the coast of Murcia in southeastern Spain, near the town of Mazarrón, according to Spain's Ministry of Culture.Now called the Mazarrón II, this shipwreck was one of two located in that same general area. The first, called Mazarrón I, was initially located in 1993, lifted from the water in June 1995, and put on display at Spain's National Museum of Underwater Archaeology in 2005 after undergoing years of conservation treatments, the museum said.Mazarrón II is of particular interest to archaeologists...

Research on a Phoenician-era shipwreck off Xlendi in Gozo can help us better understand our past, Professor Timmy Gambin told The Malta Independent...“This is one of seven Phoenician shipwrecks in the world so any proper study that comes out of these seven shipwrecks is absolutely important.”Following the four-year excavation project of the Phoenician shipwreck that is located off the coast of Xlendi, the team of international experts, led by the University of Malta, has recently begun a new four-year Post-Excavation Project (2022-2025)...Gambin gave a brief overview of a few different methods within the post-excavation project.Firstly, he spoke about the method...

Archaeologists have discovered a 1,500-year-old shipwreck near the ancient Greek city of Kydonies, now known as Ayvalık, on Turkey’s Aegean coast. This remarkable find, part of the “Turkish Sunken-Ships Project: Blue Heritage,” sheds new light on ancient maritime trade and the region’s historical significance. Researchers from Dokuz Eylül University’s Underwater Research Center (SUDEMER) identified the shipwreck located 2.5 miles offshore at a depth of 43 meters. Led by Associate Professors Harun Özdaş and Nilhan Kızıldağ, the team worked with the approval of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. Underwater robotic systems were crucial in locating and studying the site. Largest...

A shipwreck dating to the sixth or fifth century b.c. has been discovered near Sicily along with a collection of ancient anchors, according to a report from CBS News. The wreck was found buried under sand and rock 20 feet underwater off Santa Maria del Focallo, at the southern tip of the island. The excavation was carried out by underwater archaeologists from the University of Udine in collaboration with Sicily's superintendent of the sea. Researchers determined that the ship's hull was built using a simple early shipbuilding technique known as "on the shell." Further study of the wreck may help...

Marine archaeologists have identified 10 shipwrecks, including one from the Roman era, in the waters around a Greek island in the Mediterranean. The finds came to light during a multiyear project carried out by a team in collaboration with Greece's National Hellenic Research Foundation and the country's Ministry of Culture. The project has been surveying an area around the island of Kasos, which lies in the Aegean Sea, a portion of the Mediterranean between the Greek peninsula to the west and Turkey's Anatolia peninsula to the east. "This research was conducted to shed light on the maritime history of the...

Tim Wollack and his daughter, Henley, were on a fishing trip at Lake Michigan when they thought they saw an elusive Green Bay octopus hovering beneath their boat, the Wisconsin Historical Society said in a Facebook post. But what they actually uncovered was a shipwreck that had been missing for more than 152 years. Officials believe the boat is the George L. Newman. “Working with Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Conservation Warden Mike Neal, the shipwreck was investigated with Video Ray ROV on December 4,” the society noted in the post. “The wreck is of a wooden three masted sailing...

Researchers exploring the waters off the Greek Island of Kefallinia have unearthed one of the largest Roman-era shipwrecks ever found.As Julia Buckley reports for CNN, a team from Greece's University of Patras located the remains of the ship, as well as its cargo of 6,000 amphorae—ceramic jugs used for shipping—while conducting a sonar scan of the area. The 110-foot-long vessel, newly detailed in the Journal of Archaeological Science, was situated at a depth of 197 feet.According to the paper, the "Fiscardo" wreck (named after a nearby fishing port) was one of several identified during cultural heritage surveys undertaken in the...

Colombia is hoping to expedite its mission to recover a three-century-old sunken treasure worth as much as $20 billion as the ownership of the fortune lies in legal limbo amid an ongoing court battle. President Gustavo Petro ordered his administration to exhume the “Holy Grail of shipwrecks” — the Spanish galleon San José — from the floor of the Caribbean Sea as soon as possible, the country’s minister of culture told Bloomberg last week. Petro wants to bring the 62-gun, three-masted ship to the surface before his term is up in 2026 and has requested a public-private partnership be formed...

A remarkably well-preserved ancient Roman ship has been discovered on the seabed off the coast of Sardinia. The 2,000-year-old wreck was found at a depth of 150ft by a specialised diving unit of the Italian police, working in collaboration with archaeologists, in the strait that separates Sardinia from Corsica. The ship was carrying a load of terracotta tiles, which are also in a good state of preservation. The roof tiles, believed to have been produced in or around Rome, were packed into the hold of the vessel, which is 60ft long and 23ft wide. They were probably going to be...

A diver who spotted something metallic not far from Sardinia's coast has led to the discovery of tens of thousands of ancient bronze coins.Italy's culture ministry said Saturday that the diver alerted authorities, who sent divers assigned to an art protection squad along with others from the ministry's undersea archaeology department. The ministry posted images and video of the stunning discovery.The coins dating from the first half of the fourth century were found in sea grass, not far from the northeast shore of the Mediterranean island. The ministry didn't say exactly when the first diver caught a glimpse of something...