16th International Symposium on Boat & Ship Archaeology

115 Zadar, Croatia | 26 September – 1 October 2021 Dino Taras 1 & Ines Šelendić 2 1 Archaeological Museum Zadar, Zadar, Croatia 2 Independent researcher, Zadar, Croatia 18 th century wreck in the bay of St Nicholas, Island of Pag, Croatia Excavations in St Nicholas Bay had started in 2017 when local divers informed curators of Archaeological museum Zadar about pottery fragments on the bottom of the bay, from the shallows down to 20 m depth. The first campaign focused on mapping and collecting the archaeological material, as well as establishing the wider area of the site. Archaeologial survey revealed underwater remains of a breakwater or a pier which protected the little bay from northwestern wind. The campaign in 2019 brought out evidence of ship’s construction in the shallow part of the submerged site, with 12 m 2 of wreck excavated, cleaned and documented. Because of time and budget constraints, the construction was covered and rebur- ied for the next year’s campaign. In 2020 excavation at the bay of St Nicholas had the main focus on the ship’s construction. By the end of the campaign, the entire wreck was unearthed, measuring 17 m in length and over 3 m in width. The keel is preserved in its entire length, with numerous floor timbers and futtocks, as well as outer planking and limber boards. The area around the wreck and its edges have scattered wooden forms which display man-made oblique edges – these resemble short stakes and were probably a part of the protection of planking and limber boards from the weight of the cargo. Samples of wood have been gathered for 14 C and dendro- chronological dating, as well as samples for xyological determination of wood and wooden forms surrounding the ship’s construction. The poster’s aim is to present this new find in the bay of St Nicholas and will show the results and analysis of samples collected, as well as a basic analysis of the ship’s construction.