Rare Glassware Was Just Recovered From a 2,000-Year-Old Shipwreck—Watch the Epic Discovery Here

Beautiful glassware has been around for centuries, as evidenced by a recent discovery made by archaeologists sailing the Mediterranean Sea. The researchers uncovered thousands of perfectly preserved handmade glasses from a 2,000-year-old shipwreck.

The ship—a Roman vessel called the Capo Corso 2—is located 1,148 feet below sea level between France's Capo Corso peninsula and Italy's Capraia island. The wreck is estimated to be dated between the end of the first and the beginning of the second century AD, according to a statement from Italy's National Superintendency for Underwater Cultural Heritage.

The wreck was initially discovered in 2012 by engineer Guido Gay, Smithsonian Magazine reports. Since then, archeologists have completed two surveys of the site, once in 2013 and again in 2015. During the first week of July 2023, archaeologists from Italy and France, as well as other researchers who specialize in ancient glass, marine ecology, and underwater conservation, returned to the shipwreck.

Researchers used two remotely operated vehicles (named Arthur and Hilarion) to conduct scans of the site. Eventually, a selection of finds was retrieved thanks to a claw system mounted on Arthur, according to the statement. Two bronze basins, Bronze Age containers called amphorae, and a plethora of glass tableware was retrieved during the mission.

The team plans to conduct an in-depth study of the materials in order to provide more details about the chronology of the shipwreck and the route traveled during the ship's last voyage. During an initial analysis, it's believed the ship came from a port in the Middle East, perhaps from Lebanon or Syria, and was headed for the French Provençal coast.