Archaeologists have discovered Mr. remains of a neolithic road in the Adriatic Sea off the Croatian island of Korcula. A prehistoric road connected the settlement of the Hvar culture at the flooded Neolithic settlement of Soline with the coast of Korčula. Radiocarbon dating of preserved wood found in earlier Soline archaeological surveys dates the settlement to around 4900 BC.
Archaeologists from the University of Zadar were exploring sites along the coast when they spotted unidentified structures 15 feet below the crystal blue waters of Gradina Bay on the west coast of Korčula. Beneath a thick layer of mud on the seabed, archaeologists found a 12-foot-wide road made of carefully stacked stones.
The head of research, Igor Borzich, noticed peculiar structures in the bay, and a group of archaeologists, who dived at the Soline site, surveyed the central part of Gradina Bay. To their general excitement, they discovered the presence of an almost identical settlement at a depth of four to five meters, similar to that found in Soline, the statement emphasizes.
Neolithic artifacts such as flint blades, stone axes and fragments of forges have been found at this site.
There is evidence of human settlement on Korčula dating back to the Upper Paleolithic around 20,000 years ago. The Adriatic was more than 300 feet lower than it is today, and the Central Dalmatian islands such as Korcula were mountain peaks on the mainland. It became an island when sea levels rose in the Mesolithic about 10,000 years ago.
In the Neolithic period, the island was inhabited by people of the Hvar culture, as evidenced by the forms found here, the decoration and the technique of ornamentation of pottery. Hvar created Soline as an artificial island and built a newly opened road to connect them.
