The San Rossore train station on the edge of Pisa, Italy, is a lonely stop. Tourists who visit this city to see its famous leaning tower generally use the central station across town. But San Rossore is about to be recognized as one of the country's most significant archaeological digs. For nearly a decade archaeologists have been working near and under the tracks to unearth what is nothing short of a maritime Pompeii.

So far the excavation has turned up 39 ancient shipwrecks buried under nine centuries of silt, which preserved extraordinary artifacts. The copper nails and ancient wood are still intact, and in many cases cargo is still sealed in the original terra cotta amphorae, the jars used for shipment in the ancient world. They have also found a cask of the ancient Roman fish condiment known as garum and many mariners' skeletons—one crushed under the weight of a capsized ship. One ship carried scores of pork shoulder hams; another carried a live lion, likely en route from Africa to the gladiator fights in Rome.

Pompeii WAS a maritime city!

pompeii was 500 metres from the sea, it wasn't a port, thesedays its 2 kilometres away

Pretty cool find, do you have a link?

Considering that it was used as a port by Greeks, and phoenicians, I would suggest that it was a maritime port. Perhaps a little more research would help you to realise that.

I believe what the OP meant when they called it a maritime Pompeii is that the objects they found all had to deal with the maritime of that era. The mentioning of finding so many ships, not people in their houses is what the OP is all about.

Oh yah! That was the top story on Newsweek magazine. It's pretty awsome, they may make a museum to house the ships. But some ships are under a railway, and they may leave them there. I think they should just halt the train for a werk or so and get the ships out. History is important!

They would have to fill it with a tonne of landfill. And make sure it was packed really, really well. It is possible to do, but maybe at this time it is not plausible.

Edit: I found the article and low and behold that is the title of the article, A Maritime Pompeii.

I was responding to Kerkinana's assertion that Pompeii was NOT a maritime port. Which was asserted again in a later post. Thought that was obvious.

Obviously not. LOL. Anyway, pretty cool finds. It makes me wonder how many other ones are just sitting there waiting underneath these cities that were established so long ago.

so wheres the port then ?



it might have been coastal

but it wasn't a port

see map
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Mt_Vesu..._eruption_3.svg

Just Google "Port of Pompeii". You really are turning this into a silly game of semantics

ok heres the first link from my google of "port of pompeii"

http://mr_sedivy.tripod.com/pompeii_2.html


its not semantics, thers a difference between the term "the port of Pompeii" and Pompeii actually being a port itself. especially as Pompeii was inland

it was served by three ports as you'd have seen on the link to the map I posted had you bothered to look at it

There some great pix of these ships at http://www.navipisa.it/scavo_naveD.htm . The web site is in Italian. If you don't speak Italian (I don't) just keep pushing buttons to see the various pix.

Didn't look very far then. Oplontis was not a port, it was collection of luxurious villas. Stabiae, was tiny, see link below.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stabiae



can we call an end to this now and enjoy the rest of this thread?

Thanx Siara! That is so cool. It's amazing what has been turning up lately, isn't it?

Here is the link..

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=51a_1193957314&p=1

Damn. We could of learned alot from those boats. But hey, at least they can get some out. The museum should be out in 2015, I'll try to go one day!