Overview
- Conservation teams have cleaned and documented more than 40 gold objects weighing about 600 grams from the Tatinica wreck off Polače, and the assemblage was first shown publicly on July 23, 2026.
- The gold finds include four complete belt garnitures set with emeralds, rubies and pearls and a gold signet ring bearing the image of an emperor from the Herakleios dynasty.
- Gold coins of four Herakleios emperors date the wreck to the late 7th or early 8th century, placing the ship on major east–west Mediterranean trade routes of the late Byzantine period.
- The roughly 18‑metre vessel preserved oak and pine keel, frames and planking and carried amphorae, merchant scales, lead bars and ivory, a cargo mix that suggests a high‑ranking passenger or diplomatic purpose rather than a routine merchant voyage.
- An international team led by the Croatian restoration institute with academic partners is continuing specialist analysis and preparing a catalogue, documentary and a major exhibition for late 2026 that could change understanding of Byzantine maritime trade and diplomacy.