Experts from Southampton have made a breakthrough discovery in a subsurface location of a Roman settlement in Albania.
A team led by University of Southampton archaeologists have unearthed undiscovered remains of a castle and a port on the Albanian coast, making it much more important place than was previously thought.
The team of academics have been researched in Triport, near the modern port of Vlora, and divers found eight acres of sunken structures, an area that has joined the rest of discovery composed by 12 acres.
This discovery hints that Triporti has been a large settlement during the Roman period, and may have been related to Aulon ancient city, now known as Vlora.
The expedition of 14 researchers is led by Peter Campbell from the University of Southampton and Neritan Ceka by the Albanian Institute of Archaeology and National Maritime Agency of Albania.
"We found indicators of the change of ancient sea level, Greek and Roman trade (the 4th century BC to 7 AD), and modern environmental data. But one of the most important discoveries have been numerous remains of sunken that led us to rethink the importance of Triport as Roman Harbor," said Campbell, reports" DailyEcho ".
"Albania has some of the most important waters of the Mediterranean. This coastline has been crucial to the antique trade and continues to be important as a meeting area for species from the Adriatic Sea and the Ionian it," he added.
Triport has offered safe mooring to vessels and has been associated with ancient cities through major Roman roads. This place first explored in the 20th century, with a further study conducted in the early 2000s.
Albanian seas have one of the best underwater heritage in the Mediterranean, which in the age of communism has been banned for diving and maritime development.
The project has revealed anchor made of stone, lead and iron, as well as amphora, large containers, dating from 300 BC until the Middle Ages.