Roman-Era Northwestern Adriatic Sewn Boats: A Local Tradition Tied into the Broader Mediterranean World

Nautical archaeology and the study of ancient shipwrecks have much to contribute to the theme of ‘Ideas that traveled by the sea’. Those ideas were, after all, carried by ships in the form of people and things. But what if we looked at the ships themselves. What could they tell us about the connectivity of the ancient Mediterranean world and the ideas that crossed seas? The sewn boats that were built along the northwestern coast of the Adriatic Sea during the Roman Period show several connections to the broader Mediterranean world, embedded within the materials and methods used to construct their hulls. This paper will examine this seemingly inconsequential and peripheral tradition of local boatbuilding and explore the evidence that connects these vessels across the Adriatic Sea to the shores of modern Croatia, up the rivers of continental Europe, and all the way to Spain and North Africa.