A preliminary report on newly discovered fluvial vessels from Kostolac, Serbia

Abstract

This paper will present the results of a preliminary study of a group of four fluvial vessels recently discovered in the vicinity of Roman Viminacium in modern-day Serbia, dated between the Late Iron Age and Late Medieval Period. The remains of four vessels were discovered in March 2020 during regular mining activity at the Drmno open-air coal mine near the town of Kostolac in Serbia, at four kilometers distance from the contemporary course of the Danube. Archaeologists from the Belgrade Institute of Archaeology working as resident researchers at the nearby Viminacium Archaeological Park were immediately alerted and surveyed the scene, subsequently joined by members of the Centre Camille Jullian research laboratory for further studies and analyses of the remains. Four different vessels were identified among the wooden remains well preserved under six meters of clay-like sediment: two dugouts, a single plank belonging to a flat-bottomed vessel, and a well preserved flat-bottomed planked barge. The discovery, taking place just two days before the introduction of the state of emergency in Serbia due to the 2020 sanitary crisis, was followed by hasty rescue excavation, documentation, and extraction of the shipwrecks and their transportation to the nearby Archaeological Park for further conservation. While focusing on the architectural characteristics and nautical capabilities of the discovered vessels, this paper will also present preliminary conclusions on the context of their discovery in relation to the archaeological topography of the region, as well as with the naval construction and navigation practices within the Middle Danube zone of transport geography.