Underwater excavations near Croatia's Mljet island have uncovered a substantial collection of gold artifacts from a shipwreck dating to the late 7th or early 8th century A.D. The findings, formally presented by the Croatian Conservation Institute this summer after years of work, include over 1.3 pounds of gold, marking the largest amount ever recovered from a shipwreck in the Mediterranean.
Systematic underwater excavations at the site began in 2015, following the discovery of the wreck more than a decade ago. The recovered items include gold coins issued by four emperors of the Heraclian dynasty, which reigned over the Byzantine Empire during the 7th and 8th centuries. In addition to the coins, archaeologists found elaborate jewelry adorned with pearls, rubies, and emeralds, as well as a golden signet ring. The presence of these high-value items suggests that a passenger of considerable status, possibly a wealthy individual and their entourage, was aboard the vessel.
"This is an impressive amount of gold," Igor Miholjek, head of research at the Croatian Conservation Institute, told Reuters. "It weighs over 600 grams when weighed after cleaning and restoration."
Experts believe the Mljet wreck is of significant historical importance. "If you're studying the end of the late Roman Empire and the transformation into the medieval world, this is a critical site for us to understand and to gain insights into how the Mediterranean was held together by its sea routes, how it fragmented, how the empire fell apart," said Justin Leidwanger, professor of archaeology at Stanford University, in comments to Reuters.
The Byzantine Empire, the eastern continuation of the Roman Empire, existed until 1453 and once controlled extensive territories across the eastern Mediterranean. The recent discoveries from the Mljet shipwreck add to a growing number of significant Byzantine finds in recent years, including a 1,600-year-old mosaic from an ancient Christian monastery in southern Israel and a 1,700-year-old Byzantine city uncovered in Egypt.