A restoration project for a little Pula maritime heritage.
At the beginning of next week, the Uljanik shipyard will host a presentation of the two-year project of restoration of the ancient ship “Pula 2”, which was found during construction works in Pula in Croatia. The details of the restoration and transportation of the ancient ship will be presented by experts from the Archaeological Museum of Istria, reports Glas Istre on January 5, 2016.
A little more than two years after the remains of the two ancient ships were found, the smaller ship “Pula 2” will be transported to France, to the world-renowned laboratory ARC Nucléart, where it will be restored and conserved. This is the first time in Croatia that a ship is being sent to such well-known laboratory. Pula 2 is in parts and therefore is easier to transport.
The ship will be accompanied by an expert from the Archaeological Museum of Istria who will acquire knowledge and skills which will later be applied to restoration and conservation of the larger Pula 1 ship, whose transport would be too difficult due to its size and complexity.
In the last two years, the Museum has done a lot of work preserving the two ships and other archaeological material which was found in their vicinity: there are a total of 3,800 items which have been catalogued, including 111 wooden and leather items which have been preserved and restored. The analysis of archaeological material has shown that the ships date from somewhere between the first decades of the Common Era and the second century, and it is possible that the ships were built by local craftsmen. It has been determined that they were made of pine wood.
The ships were excavated in the summer of 2013, from the depth of between 4 and 6 metres. Thanks to the mud in which they were located for centuries, they are very well preserved. During the research activities, Croatian archaeologists have collaborated with colleagues from abroad, including Giulia Boetto from the Centre for Nautical and Marine Archaeology Camille Jullian from Marseille in France, but also with many other international experts, as well as Uljanik engineers.
In addition to the ships, various other objects were found, such as ropes, wooden wedges, spindles, amphorae, animal tusks, ancient sandals, stone sculptures of dolphins, Roman pots and jugs, as well as a large amount of organic samples (pine nuts, seeds of peaches, walnuts and grains).
