Off the coast of Croatia lies one of the oldest ships in the entire Mediterranean. It is a ship that sailed off the coast of present-day Croatia between the end of the 12th century and the end of the 10th century BC, so the wreck would be about three thousand years old.
The Zambratija is one of 64 sewn ships discovered in the Mediterranean. This is an ancient shipbuilding technique. That means underwater archaeologists had to sew the planks together underwater to be rehabilitated in France.
The anoxic properties of sea mud protected it from oxygen, which has protected it from harmful bacteria that would have destroyed the wood, according to experts at the French conservation center.
The wreck, of which a frame and five planks were partially visible, was only about 150 meters from the shore, 2.5 meters deep, covered in algae and sand. The locals, who had located it for a long time, believed that it was a much more modern vessel.
Along these same lines, scientists thought that it was a ship from Roman times made with an ancient technique in which planks were sewn with tendons, wood roots or plant fibers. Some other ships of this type have already been found in the Adriatic.
Radiocarbon dating analyzes of wood samples carried out in Croatia, the United States and France date it back much earlier.
The wreck was originally around 10 meters long, although only a third of the boat now remains.
