The shipment of a Stone Age ship that sank off the coast of Capri in the Bay of Naples has been discovered by a team of underwater archaeologist . Among the illogical freight , the researchers located a heavy clump of obsidian , although the identity element of the sailors remains a enigma .
Obsidianis a case of volcanic ice ( " dragonglass " for GoT fan ) that was used in prehistoric times to create steel and other tools . One of the crisp material on Earth , the purple - tinted igneous rock occurs naturally on some of Italy ’s volcanic island , although it ’s unreadable where this particular ingathering was obtained .
in the beginning spotted by police force underwater diver last month , the Neolithic wreck was later visited by maritime scientists from the Superintendency of the Metropolitan Area of Naples . Announcing the discovery , officials excuse that the sunken load consisted of a serial publication of worked obsidian cores , one of which bear witness cleared sign of chiseling and cut up on its surface .
Remnants of the vessel haven’t been found yet but the large chunks of obsidian cores are very impressive.Image credit: Superintendency of the Metropolitan Area of Naples
Located at a profoundness of 30 to 40 meters ( 98 to 130 feet ) below the Earth’s surface , the large graven core measures 28 by 20 by 15 centimeters ( 11 by 8 by 6 inches ) and weigh almost 8 kilo ( 17.6 pounds ) . No traces of the Neolithic watercraft that carried the obsidian have been recovered , although Superintendent Mariano Nuzzo said in astatementthat archaeologists will now conduct “ an extensive instrumental survey of the seabed , to assert the possible presence of the hull or other cargo material . ”
The wreck was discovered near the famous Grotta Azzurra ( Blue Lagoon ) , a favorite bathing point of Roman Emperors . Going further back in time , very little is have a go at it about human natural action on the island of Capri , although there is some evidence that masses were present on a number of Mediterranean isles during the Neolithic period .
For representative , obsidian from the island of Melos has been discovered in theFranchthi Caveon the Hellenic mainland . locate some 80 nautical miles from its source , the material is thought to have been transported across the Aegean Sea by ancient leghorn around 13,000 eld ago .
A large chunk of obsidian, or volcanic glass, which bears traces of chiseling and processing likely by Neolithic peopleImage credit: Superintendency of the Metropolitan Area of Naples
Such discoveries provide fascinating insights into the sailing capableness of Stone Age humans , although it ’s still unclear on the button when we first got our sea branch . Stone putz on the island of Crete , for example , have been dated to 130,000 year ago and stir speculation thatNeanderthals may have sail into Europefrom the Near East .
Other ancient shaft on Melos have been interpreted as grounds forseagoing hominids around half a million class ago , while it ’s also conceive that our nonextant antecedent somehow land on Flores Island in Indonesia a million years ago .
At present , very small is known about the newly discovered obsidian core in Italy . However , it ’s hoped that approaching retrieval , restoration , and analyses will help to not only unwrap the age of the ancient wreck but also fill in some of the gaps in our cognition of Neolithic Capri .
