DIGGING UNDERWATER

Archaeology studies the traffic of maritime commerce

We propose a journey through nautical activity in antiquity in two areas.

In one route, a synthesis of the knowledge provided by various land and underwater excavations has been carried out to present a hypothetical reconstruction of a Roman ship moored in a dyke. In the other, using a supposed ship sunk in the 5th century A.D., the working methodology of an underwater archaeological excavation is shown.

A hole in the hull, close to one of the vessel's side rudders, allows us to see the construction technique of the vessel and the arrangement of the cargo in the hold, next to the bilge pump. At the foot of the dock, a stratigraphic excavation illustrates the successive accumulation of objects in the anchorage of the ships.

In the area occupied by the excavation, thanks to the scenography and the projected video, it is possible to get an approximation of the way in which objects appear during an excavation. It is also possible to learn how underwater archaeology works in order to document the findings in a way that provides historical information.