Viminacium ship found in coal mine

Viminacium ship found in coal mine
Viminacium ship found in coal mine
Anonim

Archaeologists were able to pull the front of a Roman ship out of an open-pit coal mine in eastern Serbia. These excavations began a few weeks ago, but due to the coronavirus, scientists could not continue their active work. Now, we can find out new details.

The ship was part of the Viminacium, a huge Roman city of 45,000 inhabitants, with a hippodrome, fortifications, temples, an amphitheater, aqueducts, baths and workshops.

Lead archaeologist Miomir Korac said the vessel dates back to the 3rd century AD, when Viminacium was the capital of the Roman province of Moesia near the Danube River.

“The Roman [river] fleet was based here to protect this region from barbarian invasions,” archaeologists say. "Finds like these of Roman ships are really rare, especially in such good condition when you can see how the boat was built."

Initially, the ship was 19 meters long. It had a flat bottom, six pairs of oars, and a triangular sail. The nine-meter front section had thick wooden sides and was found together with the wrecked parts of two small boats.

Excavations of the Viminacium have been going on since 1882, but archaeologists estimate that they have explored only 4% of the territory, which is 450 hectares.

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