Collection of Underwater Finds

The very valuable museum material kept in the Collection of Underwater Finds mainly consists of Greek and Roman amphorae, with the oldest Greek one dating from the 5^th century BC, and the youngest Byzantine amphora from the 7^th century. The Collection also houses pottery used on ships from the 3^rd century BC to the 2^nd century AD, as well as fragmentary pottery with an imprinted stamp. The museum also holds several lead stocks of Roman anchors, with the lead stock from the 1^st century with the inscription M.SEM-PRONI.L.L. (Marcus Semproni-Lucius Liberti) being extremely valuable.

The most interesting for experts, and the most impressive for visitors, is a ceramic vessel of large volume – a pithos in Greek or dolium in Latin – found on the archaeological site Trstenik in Kaštel Sućurac in 2002. It was originally a container for grain, but was later used to store live fish. Boasting large dimensions (height 160 cm, width in the middle 150 cm, outer rim of the opening 88 cm), the pithos is also special due to 52 conical perforations or holes. It dates to the 1^st-2^nd century AD, and is, as far as we know, the only completely preserved example of a pithos in these parts.

Collection Manager: Branka Teklić, senior curator