''Alkedo'' is a preserved
Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of Roman civilization
*Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...
shipwreck
A shipwreck is the wreckage of a ship that is located either beached on land or sunken to the bottom of a body of water. It results from the event of ''shipwrecking'', which may be intentional or unintentional. There were approximately thre ...
that sank in the 1st century AD,
and was discovered during a construction project in
Pisa
Pisa ( ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Tuscany, Central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for the Leaning Tow ...
,
Italy
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
.
Excavation
In 1998 construction began on a control center for the Rome-Genoa train line next to
Pisa San Rossore. During the project, a series of shipwrecks numbering about thirty were discovered, including ''Alkedo''.
Characteristics
Constructed of
holm oak and
pine
A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae.
''World Flora Online'' accepts 134 species-rank taxa (119 species and 15 nothospecies) of pines as cu ...
, with an insert in the bow made of
oak
An oak is a hardwood tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' of the beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an acorn, borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisp ...
, it was rowed by twelve
oarsmen, and used as a pleasure craft.
The ship's nearly intact hull has been preserved well enough to make out the inscription on a tablet nailed to one of the
rower's benches; the inscription states the five letters that make up the word "ALK (E) DO". Translated from
Latin
Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
to mean "seagull", which is thought to be the name of the ship.
Traces of red and white were visible on the external sides of the ship during its excavation, which indicates it was once painted.
It is displayed next to a full size replica in the
Museum of Ancient Ships in Pisa, Italy.
See also
*
List of surviving ancient ships
This is a list of surviving ships from the Ancient history, ancient or Prehistory, prehistoric era. All the ships on this list date to 5th century Anno Domini, AD or before.
See also
* Ships of ancient Rome
* List of oldest surviving ships
* ...
* ''
Arles Rhône 3
''Arles Rhône 3'' is an ancient Roman boat discovered in 2004, with parts of it only below the surface in the Rhône River of Arles, France. In the 1st century AD, it had been a long river trading vessel. It has been displayed since 2013 at t ...
''
* ''
Marsala Ship
The Marsala Punic shipwreck is a third-century-BC shipwreck of two Punic ships. The wreck was discovered in 1969, off the shore of Isola Lunga, not far from Marsala on the western coast of Sicily. It was excavated from 1971 onwards''.'' The exc ...
''
*''
Roman ship of Marausa
The Roman ship of Marausa () is the wreck of Roman merchant ship from the third century AD which was discovered about 150 metres off the coast from Trapani.
Description
In August 1999, a number of members of the Archeoclub of Trapani reported th ...
''
Notes
References
External links
*
{{Oldest surviving ships (pre-1919)
1998 archaeological discoveries
Ancient Roman ships
Ancient shipwrecks
Shipwrecks of Italy
Archaeological discoveries in Italy
Ships preserved in museums
1st-century artifacts