WEBVTT 00:06.900 --> 00:13.500 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% [Narrator] For thousands of years, the Adriatic Sea has guided ships into the safe harbors of 00:13.500 --> 00:22.533 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Croatia's Dalmatian coast. Among these ancient ports stands Zadar, one of the 00:22.533 --> 00:29.766 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% country’s oldest continually inhabited cities. Colonized by the Romans in the 1st century BC, 00:31.900 --> 00:41.300 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% remnants of the Empire's occupation endure to this day. 00:41.300 --> 00:51.566 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% [Mladen] The Romans and Greeks before them the people who built foundations, let's say, 00:51.566 --> 00:58.033 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% of our society when you see what they used, what they did, it's not changed eventually too 00:58.033 --> 01:04.233 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% much today. The main square stands in the same position where the Roman main square 01:04.233 --> 01:11.666 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% was. The main raster of the streets in Zadar is following the streets that we had in Roman times. 01:11.666 --> 01:20.333 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% So we are living in the same place where Romans lived in these first centuries 2,000 years ago. 01:20.333 --> 01:32.233 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% [Narrator] The 1st and 2nd centuries marked the golden age of the Roman Empire. Every artifact 01:32.233 --> 01:43.933 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% uncovered by archaeologists and preserved by conservators tells a story. A glass jar bears 01:43.933 --> 01:53.766 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% the stamp of its creator. A ceramic amphora reveals its city of origin through shape 01:53.766 --> 02:11.366 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% and design. And ancient coins, marked with the heads of emperors, disclose their age. As they 02:11.366 --> 02:18.133 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% colonized existing settlements like Zadar, the Romans also constructed elaborate country farms, 02:18.133 --> 02:25.633 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% or villas, whose valuable products like olives and wine helped sustain and grow the Empire. 02:25.633 --> 02:31.700 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% [Luka] All these products needed to be transferred either to Italy or other provinces, 02:31.700 --> 02:35.233 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% so the transport was, in fact, the ships which were carrying all 02:35.233 --> 02:41.000 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% this stuff. It was much cheaper than transferring along the inland roads. 02:41.000 --> 02:45.666 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% [Narrator] As these Roman ships sailed from colonies along Croatia's Adriatic 02:45.666 --> 02:50.033 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% coast to ports across the Mediterranean and beyond, 02:50.033 --> 02:59.666 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% they left their archaeological footprint across the sea floor. 03:08.000 --> 03:13.566 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% For over a decade, underwater archaeologists and conservators at the International Centre 03:13.566 --> 03:18.966 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% for Underwater Archaeology in Zadar, or ICUA, have perfected 03:18.966 --> 03:25.800 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% their expertise in uncovering and meticulously documenting the traces of this rich history. 03:25.800 --> 03:29.600 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% [Luka] We have a lot of abundant cultural heritage underwater in Croatia. 03:31.900 --> 03:39.833 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% And the main reason for our center is in fact the protection of it. 03:39.833 --> 03:49.500 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% [Narrator] During recent excavations of an ancient Roman harbor near Zadar, the team at ICUA made a 03:49.500 --> 03:58.666 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% remarkable discovery: the wooden remains of a Roman ship dating to the 1st century, AD. 03:58.666 --> 04:06.966 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% [Roko] You know that feeling when you find something that is really valuable to you. And then 04:06.966 --> 04:13.466 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% that feeling overwhelms you. So that's basically the feeling that we get while excavating, 04:13.466 --> 04:18.700 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% and then when you find something, for example, you know, "Oh my god, this is 2,000 years old, 04:18.700 --> 04:25.133 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% so I'm the first one, the first person who gets a chance to view this object after 2,000 years, 04:25.133 --> 04:29.866 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% so the last one who viewed it it was a Roman citizen. So that's beautiful. 04:29.866 --> 04:36.233 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% [Maja] When you are the first one to see the ship remains, after 2,000 years, 04:36.233 --> 04:45.200 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% that's a very special and personal, emotional moment, so things like this always surprise you. 04:45.200 --> 04:52.400 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% [Narrator] This find marks the beginning of a comprehensive archaeological process that will 04:52.400 --> 05:02.733 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% span years, if not decades. How do archaeologists and conservators document and preserve this sunken 05:02.733 --> 05:29.500 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% history? And what hidden stories still lie submerged, waiting to be discovered?