Department of Archaeology

The idea of the Initiative is based on 20 year of topic forming and developing which culminate in paper given on World Cultural Heritage Conference EUROMED 2014 (supported and organized by ISPRS, CIPA, ICOMOS, ICOM, ICCROM) which held in November 2014 in Lemessos, Cyprus. Paper were recognise as best paper on Conference and it was awarded by first Prize of WernerWeber Award.
Paper was published in International Journal of Heritage in the Digital Era, Special Issue: EuroMed 2014 Best Papers, volume 3 number 4, 2014 by Miran Eriˇc: New reflections on the protection of World Heritage in the future: Global symbolic meaning of autochthonous and indigenous origins of water navigation, p. 597-612; [On line] Available at: https://www.academia.edu/11655103/New_reflections_on_\the_protection_of_World_Heritage_in_the_future_Global_symbolic_meaning_of_autochthonous_and_indigenous_origins_of_water_navigation

The contents of Proposal is copyrighted by the 26 Ambassadors of Global Initiative: Early Watercraft - A global perspective of invention and development. And it is forbiden to use ideas from proposal without Ambassadors permissions.

On the end of February 2018 the list of ambassadors count 61 ambassadors from 31 countries.
On the end of August 2019 the list of ambassadors count 97 individual and 21 official institutional Ambassadors from 48 countries from all global continents.
On the end of January 2020 the list of ambassadors count 110 individual and 32 official institutional Ambassadors from 53 countries from all continents.

The findings of prehistoric vessels (e.g. EarlyWatercraft), logboats and dugout canoes as the oldest evidence (logboat from Pesse, Netherland) as the other forms of watercraft (reed-, skin-, bark- boats, rafts, etc.) all over the world mark the beginning of shipbuilding and transportation traditions and in the sense of far-reaching significance as well as navigation, mobility, orientation, networking, conquering, colonisation, travelling and consequently also the other inventions. Anthropological theory, however, even without the aid of real finds is widely accepted and claims that the watercraft began to be in use for at least 60k years, and some of them even state’ that watercraft has been used even by Homo erectus from 800k years ago.

This great story of transportation on water, which is closely linked to man’s traditional coexistence with water and his life in aquatic environments has a strong symbolic meaning since the vast majority of humanity lives near the seas, lakes and rivers. In the general story of shipping traditions, shipbuilding and watercraft typology in the framework of world heritage, the simple prehistoric vessels or Early Watercraft have not been paid enough attention so far, although they definitely deserve it, as they represent the origins of the mankind’s navigational tradition.

The ancient settlement complex with harbour and fish ponds in Fizine in the western part of Portorose Bay is one of the most interesting archaeological sites on the Slovenian coast in northwestern Istria on the upper Adriatic. The area was inhabited at least from the last decades of the Roman Republic (second half of the 1st century BC) to the early Middle Ages (6th/7th century AD), thanks to its naturally sheltered position from north winds. This paper reviews the results and findings of archaeological research since 1963, focusing on the finds from the 2017, 2018, and 2021 underwater interventions.
The underwater architecture on the nearshore part of the seabed was recognised as a facility for breeding and/or keeping marine animals (vivarium) with landing piers. Remains on the walls of the extensive jetty forming two enclosed basins are reliable indicators of the relative rise in sea level from the beginning of the 1st century AD, when the building was constructed, to the present day, estimated at 1.5 m ± 20 cm. The presumed fish farm and associated shoreline facilities were probably in use until the 5th century.
Recent underwater trial excavations in the western part of the bay revealed a stone fill combined with horizontal logs and wooden piles that probably served as a breakwater. Special attention is given to the finds of a yard or spar of a spritsail and a masthead with integral pulley, both of which were reused as mooring piles, as well as discarded pieces of ship rigging and fishing gear. The AMS dating of the wooden elements and the pottery from the associated deposits attests to the use of the harbour between the 3rd and 4th/5th centuries.