Post medieval shipwreck from the late 17th century in the waters off the island of Bisaga in the Kornati archipelago

Local divers and fishers have known of the locality in the waters off the island of Bisaga in the Kornati archipelago since the 1950s. It was subject to systematic looting for years, until 1978 when the first expert investigation was carried out. This was followed by several small-scale research expeditions by experts resulting in the extraction of materials for typological analysis, but no complete drawings or photo documentation were ever made of the wreck. In June of 2010 the Croatian Conservation Institute's Department of Underwater Archaeology initiated the systematic research of this site. The locality is situated on a rocky slope at a depth of from 30 to 50 metres where three iron anchors of a length of 3 metres and 7 iron cannons lie. Visible on the seabed are parts of the ship's equipment, the ship's wooden plating and remains of the merchant cargo.

Four submarine trenches, 2x2 metres in size, have been opened, and have yielded an abundance of archaeological material, ceramic plates, jugs and dishware, shards of glass bottles and metalware, while the large quantity of ceramic pipes of Turkish origin and porcelain cups of Chinese origin allows us to conclude that they formed the bulk of the ship's cargo. Over forty different types of tobacco pipes and carved wooden pipe stems were found. The small porcelain cups, decorated with vegetal and star-like motifs, are of Chinese production from the time of the late Ming dynasty to the early Qing dynasty, which is consistent with a timeline from 1620 to 1680. Based on this material, we can date the shipwreck to the end of the 17th century. The Kornati National Park gave its wholehearted support to the team of archaeologists, providing workspace and lodging for the team.

Vesna Zmaić