3,000-year-old shipwreck to be retrieved and thoroughly studied.

1200 BC Shipwreck to be Studied by French National Center for Scientific Research

The French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) recently announced that a well-preserved shipwreck dating back to roughly 1200 BC will be pulled from the sea in sections next month. The shipwreck, located off the coast of Croatia in the Bay of Zambratija in the Mediterranean Sea, measures roughly 39 feet in length, of which roughly 23 feet is well-preserved. Researchers refer to it as the “Zambratija ship” and it is of interest mainly because of its age and the fact that it’s a hand-sewn boat.

#PressRelease 🗞 The Zambratija boat 🛳 will be studied in detail by a Franco-Croatian team from the @CCJ_CNRS and the Archaeological Museum of Istria. From the 2nd July, a team of divers will remove sections of the boat in the bay of Zambratija.

➡ https://t.co/n32zvhkSBk pic.twitter.com/mGJbyRVQsN

— CNRS 🌍 (@CNRS) June 6, 2023

The Zambratija ship is a rare example of the ancient shipbuilding tradition of Istria and Dalmatia, two Croatian coastal regions. The technique of sewn-built ships includes wooden planks that are sewn together with tendons or flexible fibers, which can be roots, ropes, or willow branches. This type of boat build was common before metal fasteners were developed. The Zambratija ship is the oldest example of this technique discovered in the Mediterranean, CNRS notes.

Studying the Ship in Detail

Divers will pull up sections of the ship on July 2. Then, researchers with the Centre Camille Jullian and the Archaeological Museum of Istria will study the ship “in detail” and reconstruct it, creating a 3D model. In addition to studying the technique used, researchers hope to learn the date of construction and identify what types of fibers were used to build the ship.

Handling relics of this calibre is a delicate affair; therefore, every stage of the process will require the utmost care,” CNRS said in a press release.

The organization expects the ship to be desalinated, restored, and eventually placed in a naval maritime heritage museum. The boat was initially discovered in 2014 by fishermen, and, according to Newsweek, researchers have been eyeing the possibility of removing the ship from the water since.