New Delhi

Remains of Shipwrecks are often hard to find. Especially if the ship has sunk hundreds of years ago. There's no telling where exactly the ship may be lying at the bottom of the sea.

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But if an ancient shipwreck lay just 50 metres from a very busy beach and historical artifacts were submerged under just 2 metres of water, the delay in detection would indeed be surprising.

Such a shipwreck that took place 1700 years ago near Spain's Mallorca has thrown up great surprises. Not only remains of such an old incident were found near beach where literally millions have swum, the cargo on the boat was found preserved in almost perfect condition when the shipwreck was detected three years ago.

The merchant vessel was likely anchored near shore when rough weather caused it to hit the rocks and then sink. 

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Local authorities quickly intervened and studied the shipwreck, known as Ses Fontanelles wreck, with the help of divers and university experts. The contents of the sunken vessels were recovered in last few months.

What has surprised experts is the near-perfect condition that cargo was found in. As per a report in The Guardian, about 300 amphorae (clay jars) have been recovered. These jars contained various things. The report says that a leather shoe, a rope shoe, a cooking pot, an oil lamp have been found among other things.

“The aim is to preserve everything there and all the information it contains, and that couldn’t be done in a single emergency intervention,” said Jaume Cardell, local council's head of archaeology as quoted by The Guardian