Montenegro’s Coastal Heritage
Friday, 02 April 2010 12:45 | Author: Dr Sean Kingsley | 
Kotor Bay, Montenegro, a colossal natural harbour& the site of several Roman shipwrecks. Montenegro's Coastal Heritage
In June 2003 Wreck Watch collaborated with Louise Schofield of the Institute of World Archaeology, the University of East Anglia, in a coastal survey of Montenegro in the eastern Adriatic (Kotor Bay to Bar). Largely overlooked by marine archaeology, this achingly beautiful country is extremely promising for wreck discovery.
Little imagination is needed to call to mind the fantastic Illyrian backdrop of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night. Even a scholar of Sir Arthur Evans’ repute – the archaeologist who discovered the Minoan palace of Knossos – waxed lyrical about the stupendous scenery, which he called an “earthly fairyland”.
Isolated from European archaeology and with a preference for prehistory, complete ancient coastal cities have completely disappeared in recent times. Risan was the Illyrian piratical port of Queen Teuta, who hid from the Romans there in 229 BC. The settlement evolved into a medium-sized Hellenistic and Roman town along the Fiumara River in the inner fjord-like reaches of Kotor Bay. When Sir Arthur Evans visited Risan in the 1870s, he found Roman roads, an aqueduct, a field full of coins, houses, inscriptions and abundant pottery and Roman glass. Today hardly a pottery sherd has survived coastal development.
Montenegro boasts 90 kilometres of coastline, and the 20 kilometre-long Kotor Bay is 11 kilometres wide. The shores abound with natural double harbours on either sides of promontories at Ulcinj, Bar and Budva. Recreational diving is popular, as are German and Italian diving tourists. Only one wreck had been formerly published from Montenegro, compared to 429 wrecks from Italy and 92 from neighbouring Croatia.
Little imagination is needed to call to mind the fantastic Illyrian backdrop of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night. Even a scholar of Sir Arthur Evans’ repute – the archaeologist who discovered the Minoan palace of Knossos – waxed lyrical about the stupendous scenery, which he called an “earthly fairyland”.
Isolated from European archaeology and with a preference for prehistory, complete ancient coastal cities have completely disappeared in recent times. Risan was the Illyrian piratical port of Queen Teuta, who hid from the Romans there in 229 BC. The settlement evolved into a medium-sized Hellenistic and Roman town along the Fiumara River in the inner fjord-like reaches of Kotor Bay. When Sir Arthur Evans visited Risan in the 1870s, he found Roman roads, an aqueduct, a field full of coins, houses, inscriptions and abundant pottery and Roman glass. Today hardly a pottery sherd has survived coastal development.
Montenegro boasts 90 kilometres of coastline, and the 20 kilometre-long Kotor Bay is 11 kilometres wide. The shores abound with natural double harbours on either sides of promontories at Ulcinj, Bar and Budva. Recreational diving is popular, as are German and Italian diving tourists. Only one wreck had been formerly published from Montenegro, compared to 429 wrecks from Italy and 92 from neighbouring Croatia.
This anomaly is clearly artificial. The region is located along a key shipping lane linking Italy, Greece, Asia Minor and the Near East with the heart of the Roman Empire. The 2003 Wreck Watch/IWA survey confirmed an abundance of shipwrecks, with 20 formerly unknown sites emerging from discussions with museum staff, personnel from the Institute for the Protection, Culture and Heritage of Serbia, dive instructors and an examination of pottery recovered from the sea.
Amphora cargoes identified date between the 3rd century BC (Graeco-Italic) and the 6th century AD (North African) and originate from eastern and western Italy, Languedoc-Provence, Marseille, Crete and Tunisia. Cargoes of bowls include 12th century Brindisi wares and majolica ware of the 16th-18th centuries.
Frank discussions with local archaeologists confirmed that wreck looting is rampant off Montenegro, with the surfaces of all sites described as ‘ravaged’. At least some shipwrecks are being allegedly targeted by Italian treasure hunters, most graphically exemplified by a life-size Roman statue said to have been lifted and sold to a Greek dealer for 1 million Euros.
Post-communism, Montenegro is working hard to develop politically and touristically in line with modern Europe. The country is rare as being formally designated an ecological state (Article 1, 1991). Since archaeology is part of the built landscape of the environment, with wrecks acting as rich biological oases, it is hoped that future research will safeguard some of the underwater jewels of the Adriatic.
Amphora cargoes identified date between the 3rd century BC (Graeco-Italic) and the 6th century AD (North African) and originate from eastern and western Italy, Languedoc-Provence, Marseille, Crete and Tunisia. Cargoes of bowls include 12th century Brindisi wares and majolica ware of the 16th-18th centuries.
Frank discussions with local archaeologists confirmed that wreck looting is rampant off Montenegro, with the surfaces of all sites described as ‘ravaged’. At least some shipwrecks are being allegedly targeted by Italian treasure hunters, most graphically exemplified by a life-size Roman statue said to have been lifted and sold to a Greek dealer for 1 million Euros.
Post-communism, Montenegro is working hard to develop politically and touristically in line with modern Europe. The country is rare as being formally designated an ecological state (Article 1, 1991). Since archaeology is part of the built landscape of the environment, with wrecks acting as rich biological oases, it is hoped that future research will safeguard some of the underwater jewels of the Adriatic.
Further reading:
S. Kingsley and L. Schofield, ‘Coastal Montenegro: Archaeological Oasis of the Eastern Adriatic’, Europa Nostra, European Cultural Heritage Review (2005), 40-46.
Roman amphoras from the waters of Montenegro.
Last Updated (Thursday, 10 February 2011 18:32)