A team of underwater archaeologists has uncovered the remains of a submerged cave, revealing a 7,000-year-old coastal roadway hidden beneath layers of sea mud on Croatia’s southern shoreline.
The discovery occurred at the underwater Neolithic site of Soline, identified just two years earlier. The researchers connected this ancient pathway to a Neolithic settlement associated with the eastern Adriatic coast, near the island of Korčula, linking it to the Hvar culture that once thrived there.
Archaeologist Mate Parica from the University of Zadar and a colleague conducted a detailed assessment after recognizing a man-made structure on the ocean floor.
At depths between four and five meters in the Mediterranean Adriatic, stone walls emerged, suggesting they were part of an early harbor or settlement complex.
The current site appears to be anchored to Korčula, where the buried road once connected coastal points. The researchers note that the area enjoys relative calm compared with many other parts of the Mediterranean, aided by protective islands that cushion the coastline.
The road itself measures roughly four meters in width and was built from stone slabs laid side by side. Today, a thick mud layer covers the construction, complicating efforts to study its full extent.
Scholars believe the thriving Neolithic Hvar culture, which inhabited the eastern Adriatic, was responsible for constructing the Soline settlement and the ancient road that linked neighboring islands.
Radiocarbon dating of preserved wood suggests the entire settlement traces back to around 4900 BC, with the finding noting that people would have walked this route about seven millennia ago.
The project results from collaboration among Dubrovnik Museums, Kaštela City Museum, Zadar University, and Korčula City Museum, supported by photographers and divers who documented the underwater landscape.
They uncover a second sunken town
Korčula also yielded another underwater site on the island’s opposite shore, mirroring the Soline discovery and containing similarly intriguing Stone Age artifacts. Igor Borzić of the University of Zadar observed unfamiliar structures beneath the bay’s waters. When divers investigated, they found a nearly identical settlement at a depth of four to five meters.
The research team notes the presence of Neolithic objects such as flint knives, stone axes, and fragments of grinding stones. These finds appear to connect Soline and the linked road to the broader Hvar cultural sphere.
Dating to roughly 12,000 years ago, the Neolithic era marks a pivotal moment when human communities began transitioning from nomadic hunter-gatherer groups to settled agricultural lifeways and animal domestication, enabling more permanent settlements.
…
Researchers emphasize the importance of ongoing underwater archaeology to illuminate long-forgotten maritime networks and the lifeways that connected ancient coastal communities around the Adriatic Sea.