22/05/2026
In a Serbian coal mine near the ancient Roman city of Viminacium, miners uncovered the remains of a massive Roman supply boat buried nearly 25 feet underground. The wooden vessel, believed to date back to the 3rd or 4th century AD, was found preserved in damp river silt that protected it from rotting for over 1,600 years.
Archaeologists estimate the flat bottomed boat was about 65 feet long and likely carried supplies through waterways connected to the Danube River, helping support one of Rome’s most important frontier cities and military headquarters in the Balkans.
At its height, Viminacium held as many as 45,000 people and housed several Roman legions before being destroyed by the Huns in the 5th century.
What caught attention was how deeply the ship was buried. But archaeologists say the vessel was not trapped beneath solid rock formed over vast ages. It was sealed beneath layers of river silt and flood deposits as the Danube’s channels shifted over centuries, slowly burying the landscape around it.
📸: Institute of Archaeology, Belgrade
