A major archaeological discovery off the island of Korčula has attracted the attention of experts around the world. Recently, during underwater research at the submerged site of Soline, archaeologists discovered a 7,000-year-old road in Gradina bay that connected the settlement with the coast of Korčula.
During subsequent research, Igor Borzić from Zadar University then noticed strange structures in the sea, which triggered further investigation. This May, he and his colleagues hit upon a settlement four to five metres down, identical to the one in Soline.
These neatly arranged stone slabs were part of a road four metres wide. It once linked a settlement on an artificially created islet off the Korčula coast.
Divers then uncovered flint blades, stone axes and fragments of grindstones from the Neolithic era.
Thanks to earlier radiocarbon analyses of preserved wood from the Soline site, it was possible to determine that the entire historical settlement dates back to around 4,900 years before Christ. This means that people used this newly discovered road almost 7,000 years ago.