Divers in Croatia discover a 7,000-year-old road underwater

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - In underwater archaeological research of the submerged Neolithic site Soline on the island of Korčula, archaeologists have found remains that surprised even them. Namely, beneath layers of sea mud, a road was discovered that connected the submerged prehistoric settlement of the Hvar culture with the coast of the island of Korčula.

According to a statement from the University of Zadar, these are carefully laid stone slabs, which were part of a four-meter-wide construction that connected the artificially created island with the coast. Radiocarbon analysis of preserved wood found in the previous campaign dated the entire settlement to 4,900 BC.

People walked this road almost 7,000 years ago.

 

It is added that the research is the result of cooperation between several institutions and companies, and it included, along with 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 (Korčula City Museum), Eduard Visković (Kantharos), with the assistance of Dalibor Ćosović from the Lumbarda Blue diving center.

At the same time, on the other side of Korčula, archaeologists from the University of Zadar are conducting land research near Gradina bay near Vela Luka. It was the research leader Igor Borzić who noticed strange structures in the sea in the bay.

The archaeological team, diving at the Soline site, surveyed the central part of Gradina bay and, to everyone's delight, found that at a depth of four to five meters, there is an almost identical settlement to the one at Soline.

Neolithic artifacts were found at the site, such as flint blades, stone axes, and remains of millstones.