Featured Image Credit: Superintendency of the Metropolitan Area of Naples
Back in October scientists were left perplexed and excited by a discovery in southern Italy. The researchers identified some mysterious objects not far from the island of Capri in the Bay of Naples.
You might’ve heard of the Blue Grotto, a tourist attraction with stunning blue waters. The Blue Grotto’s lesser-known neighbour is the White Grotto, a cavern filled with eerie looking stalagmites, and that's where researchers located the objects.
After some analysis, the team concluded that the objects were likely remains of a Neolithic shipwreck dating around 5,000 – 8,000 years ago.
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This would be the first discovery of its kind as researcher Sandro Barucci explained: “The remains of a Neolithic hill in Mediterranean waters have never been found to date.
'There are cases of Neolithic boats found on the European mainland or in freshwater, lakes, and rivers. But the Mediterranean Sea has a pleasant temperature and salinity for the wood-eating mollusk, Teredo navalis.'
Wooden ships like these that sink in the Mediterranean are like a banquet for these kinds of molluscs.
Working with the Naples Police Department, marine archaeologists were able to identify the material of the objects to be obsidian, a shiny, black, volcanic glass that forms after lava cools quickly.
Authorities also claimed that the most important retrieval from the seabed weighed nearly eight kilograms (17.6 pounds) and measures at around 28 x 20 x 15 centimetres (11 x 8 x 6 inches).
Noticed at a depth of 30 to 40 metres (98 to 132 feet), this artifact displayed human-made carvings but unfortunately its purpose remains a mystery to researchers.
The superintendent of archaeology, fine arts, and landscape for the Naples metropolitan area, Mariano Nuzzo, added: 'It is necessary to carry out an extensive instrumental survey of the seabed to verify the possible presence of the hull or other cargo material’.
If the boat had sunk quickly into the sand and remained protected at Capri, it would 'perhaps be possible to find some wooden parts, especially if it were a dugout canoe,' he continued. 'But it would truly be a very rare event, indeed unique.'
Now, the team is hopeful to find a Stone Age shipwreck in the water where the potential discoveries could mark a first for archaeologists.
If we take it over to the Atlantic ocean, scientists have made several crazy discoveries. Just recently they found a giant missing blob of water that helped solve a decades-old mystery. The ocean holds so many hidden worlds we're yet to uncover.
