An astonishingly well-preserved Roman shipwreck has been discovered just 18 miles off the coast of Italy, and like any decent cruise ship, it comes equipped with its own buffet. Researchers and divers have recovered several vessels that contained foodstuffs like grain, wine, and pickled fish. Because the ship has been so immaculately kept, researchers believe the wreck, which was found using a remote-operated vehicle, also contains intact amphorae. These Iron Age Tupperware containers have proven surprisingly durable in similar wrecks, leaving the dive team hopeful that containers pulled from the wreck will still house all the refreshment one needs for a well-rounded 2-millennia-old meal that would probably kill you.Authorities haven’t decided whether or not to raise the vessel, a merchant ship which archaeologists surmise has been resting beneath the waves, minding its own business for about 2,000 years. Its excellent preservation is due to being housed beneath layers of mud for much of that time, which kept the ravages of age from taking their toll.
For now, the area around the site has been closed to boat traffic so that the dive team can have a little peace and quiet while they work to explore the ship and recover some of the close to 200 jars that made up the ship’s cargo — and presumably open them, which strikes us quite a brave step. We’re usually unnerved at the prospect of peeling the lid back from that spaghetti that in the back of the fridge, and it hasn’t been steeping in barnacle goodness for the last couple thousand years.
(via Discover)
- Maybe this will garner humanity yet another recipe for ancient alcohol
- This Mech still makes “in a shipwreck” the second coolest way to store wine
- Okay, the third coolest way
