The wreckage is believed to have ‘significant archaeological potential, says the paper, and it indicates the importance of the port of Fiscardo at the time.

A Roman shipwreck has been found near Kefallonia, an Ionian island of Greece. Greek scientists published the findings from the ‘Fiscardo’ shipwreck in the Journal of Archaeological Science.

Known as Fiscardo, due to its close proximity to a fishing village of the same name, the shipwreck is dated from the 1st century BC to 1st century AD and is the largest found so far in the Mediterranean Sea, according to the journal.

Scientists yielded 6,000 food and wine pots from the 30-metre long wreck. The merchant ship is one of the four-largest ships discovered in the Mediterranean Sea from the same period with the largest being an estimated 40 metres in length, whereas the average length of ships at the time were from 15-20 metres.

The wreckage is believed to have ‘significant archaeological potential, says the paper, and it indicates the importance of the port of Fiscardo at the time. The port has already yielded a number of archaeological finds such as houses, bathing complexes and a theatre dated between 146BC and 330AD.

Experts hope that studying the wreck may shed light on trading routes at the time.

Source: Neos Kosmos [December 11, 2019]