Sea level in Roman times in Istria

The shores of Istra have long been acknowledged as being characterised by a recent submersion. Numerous submerged Roman ruins on the Istrian peninsula have led to different estimations of the sea level in the Ist and IInd century AD. Degrassi (1955) proposed 1.5 m below the recent mean sea level, while Vrsalovi} (1979) proposed 2 m. In investigations, carried out since 1999 as part of two international projects: »The oil of Istria« (archaeological project) and »Dynamics and evolution of the Adriatic littoral and human occupation in Holocene (Croatia, Albania)« (geomorphological project), the question arose again.We have determined precise archaeological markers such as Roman fish-tanks, quarries, jetties and the tidal notch as a geomorphological marker. According to our investigations the sea level in the Ist and IInd century AD varied between 50 and 60 cm below the recent level