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Byzantine gold artifacts help archaeologists uncover past of ship wrecked off Croatian coast

From Jerusalem Post · () English

Summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources Context piece
  • Archaeologists have discovered a Byzantine shipwreck off the coast of Croatia, dating back to the 7th or 8th century.
  • The wreckage contained a significant amount of gold artifacts, including coins, buckles, and a signet ring, suggesting the ship carried a high-ranking individual.
  • This find is considered the most important shipwreck of its period in the Mediterranean, offering crucial insights into the late Roman Empire and the transition to the medieval world.

An extraordinary discovery off Croatia's southern coast is shedding new light on a turbulent period of Mediterranean history. Archaeologists have been meticulously excavating a Byzantine-era shipwreck near the Adriatic island of Mljet for the past decade, uncovering a trove of gold artifacts that suggest the vessel was carrying someone of considerable importance.

This is an impressive amount of gold, the largest ever found on a shipwreck in the entire Mediterranean.

— Igor MiholjekThe head of research at the Croatian Conservation Institute highlights the significance of the gold artifacts found.

The shipwreck, dated to the 7th or 8th century, has yielded an impressive collection of gold, weighing over 600 grams after cleaning. Among the finds are gold coins from the Heraclius dynasty, intricately decorated buckles adorned with rubies, emeralds, and pearls, and a golden signet ring bearing the image of the emperor. These items, according to researchers, indicate that this was no ordinary merchant vessel.

Igor Miholjek, head of research at the Croatian Conservation Institute, described the find as "an impressive amount of gold, the largest ever found on a shipwreck in the entire Mediterranean." The institute's Department of Underwater Archaeology, led by Pavle Dugonjic, has been instrumental in the decade-long exploration of the site.

For me, it's the most important shipwreck of its period.

— Justin LeidwangerA professor of archaeology at Stanford University comments on the historical importance of the discovery.

Experts believe the ship's contents offer a unique window into the late Roman Empire and its transformation into the medieval world. Justin Leidwanger, a professor of archaeology at Stanford University, called it "the most important shipwreck of its time," emphasizing its critical role in understanding how sea routes held the Mediterranean together, how fragmentation occurred, and how the empire eventually declined.

If you're studying the end of the late Roman Empire and the transformation into the medieval world, this is a critical site for us to understand and to gain insights into how the Mediterranean was held together by its sea routes, how it fragmented, how the empire fell apart.

— Justin LeidwangerThe Stanford professor explains the broader historical context and significance of the shipwreck find.
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Originally published by Jerusalem Post. Summarized and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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