Scientists Discovered a 7,000-Year-Old Road Buried Under the Sea

Story by Tim Newcomb • Wednesday

Researchers from the University of Zadar discovered an ancient stone road buried under sea mud off the coast of Croatia.© HowardOates - Getty Images

Researchers from the University of Zadar discovered an ancient stone road buried under sea mud off the coast of Croatia.

Radiocarbon dating of some of the wood used in the road construction pegs its date of creation to 4,900 B.C.

Additional archeological inspection unearthed axes and Neolithic artifacts.

When researchers started investigating a sunken settlement off the coast of Korčula Island near mainland Croatia, little did they know that they would soon unearth a surprise ancient stone road buried under a layer of sea mud.

Researchers from the University of Zadar in Croatia discovered the road—roughly 13 feet wide and made of stone plates—after scraping mud off the underwater find, according to a translated Facebook post from the university.

The team says the road once connected Korčula Island to an artificially made island settlement called Soline, which is now nearly 16 feet below the water’s level. Researchers believe this was all an active site roughly 7,000 years ago.

Using radiocarbon dating, the team tested wood preserved in the road, and were able to date the thoroughfare and connected settlement to 4,900 BC. Researchers describe the structure of the road as “carefully stacked stone plates” that run about 13 feet in width.

As a team—which includes researchers from local museums and diving centers—continues to investigate the area, members are unearthing evidence of more than just the one Neolithic settlement off the popular Korčula Island.

Along with the road, researchers have started noticing “strange structures” in the area, and have discovered another settlement nearly identical to Soline in Gradina Bay. Further digging unearthed various artifacts, including blades and a stone axe.

The Miami Herald reports that the Hvar people, one of the original groups of inhabitants of the island, were living in the area during the creation of earthenware, and showed additional ingenuity by crafting a stone road to an artificial island.

Korčula Island has long been known to house settlements dating back to the Neolithic period. The continued investigation of the waters off the island, however, opens a new understanding of how settlements on and near the island may have connected differing groups of people.