Archaeologists Just Found 1,000 Roman Artefacts in a Swiss Lake

Added: 2026-05-29

[00:00:00]More than a thousand Roman artifacts just been discovered in a Swiss lake and the find is stunning archaeologists around the world. The objects were pulled from Lake Lucern and they include coins, fibuli, that's the ancient equivalent of safety pins, the more you know, along with miniature figurines, bells, and other small items.

[00:00:18]Researchers believe the artifacts were ritual offerings tossed into the water by Romans seeking favor from the gods.

[00:00:24]What makes this story so remarkable isn't just the sheer number of objects, it's how well preserved they are. The cold, still waters of the lake kept them in extraordinary condition for nearly two millennia. So on a cold day in November 2024, two scuba divers carefully approached something on the lake bed. They both worked with the Octopus Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to underwater exploration, and they were about to make a huge archaeological discovery. The pair were diving in Lake Nhatel, the largest lake that lies entirely within Switzerland.

[00:00:52]And most divers know it for a surprisingly creepy underwater shark statue, which is probably going to confuse the out of future archaeologists. But this lake is also a dumping ground for unexloded bombs left over from World War II. So, when a drone flying over the lake picked up an anomaly, that's what everyone assumed was going on. But this was strange enough to justify a dive team, albeit one that needed to move carefully, or this dive might come to a sudden and uh rather explosive end. The anomaly looked like a pile of circles half buried in white mud. One of the divers turned on a light to take a photo, and the circles suddenly went from a hazy gray to a bright terracotta red. The divers realized that this wasn't a bomb at all, but a pile of broken plates that looked really rather old. Over the next two years, a team of underwater archaeologists, it's got to be a cool ass job, a raced to find the extent of the artifacts on the bottom of Lake Natal. It was a mission that had to be carried out in absolute secrecy and had to be finished ASAP or it might be too late to save them.

[00:01:52]When in Rome, luckily, these weren't regular scuba divers investigating the drones anomaly. The pair included Fabian Langanger, a staff archaeologist for the Canton of Natal, and Julian Feifer, the founder of the Octopus Foundation. In fact, they were just finishing up a project analyzing vulnerable shipwrecks in the lake bed. If anyone knew what to look for, it was them. The pair determined that the artifacts on the bottom of the lake were likely Roman and probably dated from the time of the early empire. At this time, Rome was well established as a global power.

[00:02:22]Julius Caesar kicked off this phase in 30 B.C.E. and his adopted son Augustus became the first official Roman emperor in 27 BC. His 40-year reign was followed by his stepson Tiberius. There was then a brief interlude with Caligula, but the Ptorian guard decided that 3 years of partying, chariot racing, and murder was more than they could take. So they arranged for his assassination and put his uncle Claudius on the throne, who turned out to be just a bit more normal.

[00:02:47]At this time, Rome was still expanding, but it was already struggling to keep up with its huge amount of territory.

[00:02:51]Italian soldiers had been chipping away at the Swiss plateau since the time of the republic. But in the imperial era, Augustus decided the control of the Alps was a matter of national security.

[00:03:01]Apparently, he hadn't forgotten about Hannibal using them to surprise the Roman army about two centuries earlier.

[00:03:05]By the time of the shipwreck, the mountains were solidly in the hands of the empire, as was most of modern day Switzerland. This was the early part of what is sometimes called the Pax Romana, a time of relative peace and economic prosperity. For the most part, the day-to-day lives of local people didn't change. They kept speaking their regional languages. They worked their jobs and they ran their communities the same as always. But there were some noticeable changes. Roman style villages sprang up around Switzerland along with villas for the upper class administrators. There were also military outpost staffed with Roman soldiers ready to defend the empire from the barbarians living in what is now Germany. All of those newcomers required a lot of staff, ideally from the home that felt familiar. The Romans were well known for their expansive road network, and it's still common to remark that all roads lead to rope. But when it came to moving massive amounts of stuff, something necessary for ruling an empire, waterways were a much better option. For one, shipments are really heavy, and both humans and animals get tired hauling a lot of stuff around.

[00:04:01]Another consideration is that slowmoving trade caravans are easy targets for thieves. Cargo ships were faster, easier, and more secure. So, the Romans took advantage of the local geography.

[00:04:10]Switzerland is covered in lakes and rivers, and a complex trade network of ships crisscross the region during their reign. If needed, a ship could be unloaded and the cargo carried across a section of land, then reloaded onto a new ship in a new waterway. This was still much easier than trying to move everything by road. Lake Newell was an especially important part of this network as a particularly long and narrow body of water. It was perfect for moving cargo around. It was also conveniently along the way to one of the new Roman military outposts, a camp called Vindonessa, located in what is now the modern town of Vindish. The ship probably started the journey at the southern end of the lake at a port the Romans called Ebodanim, now known as Yodon Lebanon. It then set sail across what was at the time Lacus Eber Odinis.

[00:04:56]Yikes. Obviously, most shipments reached their destination with no problems. This one didn't. Out of all the places that this load of cargo traveled, it's lucky that it sank in Lake Netell. This particular Swiss lake has unique features that make it a potential treasure trove of historical knowledge, and it's already home to multiple world-shaking archaeological discoveries. While the Swiss Alps are known all over the world for their high peaks and quality skiing, the northwestern side of the country is home to a second mountain range. The Jura Mountains are shorter, greener, and less crowded with tourists, which makes them a popular hiking destination. Today, the area is mostly French-speaking as it sits along the French Swiss border. Lake Nutil sits at the base of these mountains. It's part of Switzerland's three lakes region. So called because it has, wait for it, three lakes, Morat, Beiel, and Newhatell. All three are part of the flood plane of the Ira River. The problem with living in a flood plane is that things can get unpredictable. For most of human history, this area was prone to flooding. If there was a lot of rain, the area around the lakes would turn into a giant swamp called Lro Marray. If there was a drought, the waters would dramatically recede, only to come back with a vengeance when it started raining again. One of these prolonged drought periods happened in 1857 and a man called Hans Cop decided to take a walk along the edge of Lake Natal. He was hired by a local colonel to find some interesting antique collectibles. And well, he was about to hit the jackpot. With the lake shore about 2 m or over 6 ft lower than usual, a large area of the northern shallows was completely exposed. Close to where the lake met the river seal, he found a bunch of wooden stakes sticking out of the water. He also found almost 40 iron swords. Now, obviously, everyone else wanted their own cool iron sword, and the site was promptly looted every time the water level dropped enough to find it. But by the 19th century, everyone was pretty sick of these fluctuating water levels. People who came home to a flooded house were opting to move, oftentimes straight out of the country.

[00:06:48]The Swiss government decided that it was time that the lakes picked a size and stuck with it. The result was a huge hydraulic engineering project that cost over 5 million Swiss Franks. It was called the Jura water correction and it involved a series of canals and dams that would do double duty by controlling the water levels and draining the marshes. In the end, it was successful in controlling the flow of the Ay River and preventing floods. However, the side effect of the project was that all three lakes shrank. By the time the Jura water correction was finished, archaeologists assumed that all the artifacts at the north end of the lakes were gone. They were also pretty sure that the wooden stakes sticking out of the water were the remains of an Iron Age lake dwelling, a kind of prehistoric house built on marshy ground and raised on poles to protect it from flooding.

[00:07:29]Overall, an interesting site if it hadn't been looted. However, the archaeologists decided it was still worth taking a look. To their shock, the swords were only the tip of the iceberg.

[00:07:39]Now that the site was dried out, excavations revealed two bridges, five houses, an assortment of shields, brooches, tools, chariot parts, and an additional over 100 swords. It turns out that Lake Nhatel is amazing at preserving historical artifacts. The cold, dark waters and dense mud protected the wood and animal bones at the Iron Age site by keeping them hidden from sunlight, bacteria, oxygen, and the most destructive force of all, humans.

[00:08:05]It's kind of like a giant refrigerator with the door shut. Also, the lake bed contains a lot of chalk, which is alkaline, the opposite of acidic. And there are a couple of good reasons why this is good for preservation. One, bacteria and microorganisms that consume organic material aren't interested in this kind of environment. Two, if there isn't any oxygen to mess up the process, the chemistry in a chalk-rich area allows some materials to become encrusted with a protective coating of mineral salts. Today, the site is called Laten. And over time, this became the name of an entire group of archaeologically similar people throughout Europe known as the Laten culture. Since this was such an extraordinary archaeological find, a museum was created to house the artifacts. Today, the Latinium Park and Museum showcases items that cover 50,000 years of local history with the obvious highlight being those from the nearby Lake Tent site. But the archaeological discoveries of Lake Nhatal were far from over. In fact, now that archaeologists understood exactly how good the preservation conditions were, they wondered what else that chalky mud might be hiding. However, in the modern day, the most likely thing you'll find in Switzerland's alpine lakes is bombs.

[00:09:10]Lots of bombs. And the reason why actually goes back to the country's most iconic personality trait, neutrality.

[00:09:16]Since 1815, Switzerland has refused to partake in military alliances or external conflicts. But that doesn't mean they planned on rolling over if one of their neighbors decided to invade.

[00:09:25]And considering that it shares a board with Germany, the Swiss government felt pretty justified cranking out weapons during the 30s and 40s for, you know, a just in case scenario. Miraculously, however, Switzerland made it through World War II without having to use any of their weapons. So, the government had a giant stockpile of dangerous material that they didn't need anymore. The easiest solution, chuck it into alpine lakes. The government assumed that the water would neutralize the weapons, but modern studies indicate that that is not always the case. Currently, the Swiss government is looking into proposals on how to best clean up this mess. Lake Nhatel has an especially large number of these explosives. As a result, if there's something that looks a bit off in the lake bed, that's probably what it is. Certainly what everyone assumed in November 2024 when a drone flew over the lake to monitor water quality and ecological health. The Canonal Archaeology Office of New Chutal kept an eye on it anyway, just in case it found something interesting. The drone footage revealed a dark patch and drivers were sent to see if it was yet more unexloded ordinance from World War II. But when they surfaced, it was better news than anyone had dared hope. The dark patch was a load of cargo, and it looked like it might be Roman. At the point of the anomaly, the lake was only 8 m or 26 ft deep. Only faint traces of light could make it so far down. The divers had to quickly figure out what they were looking at, how much was there, and most importantly, whether or not it would still be there when they came back later. The divers grabbed a few of the artifacts to bring to the surface, just enough to get an idea of the site. Since Lake Newell is especially good at preserving wood, they made sure to grab a piece. Then their time at the wreck was done, so it was time to go to the lab and figure out what was going on here. The wood, they believed, would be key in confirming that this was indeed a Roman shipwreck. Now that they had it above the surface, they could date it using dendrochronology.

[00:11:08]Since the wood had once been a tree, the archaeologists could analyze the pattern of the growth rings. While the tree is still growing, it creates wide rings for years with good conditions and small tight rings for years with bad ones. By lining up the pattern of growth rings with trees confirmed to come from different eras, it's possible to figure out exactly when this particular tree was cut down. The dendrochronology date came back as somewhere between 50 B.CE and 50 CE, covering pretty much the entire early Roman period of Switzerland. Combined with the artifacts that were clearly Roman, there was no longer any doubt that this was a Roman cargo ship.

[00:11:43]excavation.

[00:11:46]Now that their suspicions were confirmed, the Octopus Foundation and its collaborators had to keep this a secret. They knew what had happened to the Lan site and believed that if word got out, people would start tearing through the underwater cargo to find a cool artifact to take home or even just sell. While artifacts are undeniably interesting, they aren't the most important part of archaeology. An object on its own can only tell you so much.

[00:12:07]The context or where the artifact is found is by far the most interesting thing about it. On land, the layer of dirt an artifact came from can provide important clues about how old it is. And the artifacts found around it can tell a bigger story. After all, a brick is a lot more interesting when it's part of a wall. The Octopus Foundation had to keep their discovery secret for months. They only told people who could be trusted, mostly other archaeologists. Everyone knew that they would eventually have to go back. The artifacts were just lying there on the bottom of the lake bed and they definitely had them invisible for long because someone would have found them earlier. Everyone knew what was to blame for this sudden reemergence of Roman artifacts. The Jura water correction. In fact, one reason for the drone surveys was that it's currently changing all three lakes in the region.

[00:12:51]The problem is that rivers are not just water. As they flow from high points to low points, they collect and carry sediment like soil and sand. This gets deposited in a flood plane. However, since everyone was in agreement that no one liked the R river flood plane, the Jura water correction ended this natural process. As a result, the bottom of Lake Newal is eroding and this has the fun byproduct of revealing shipwrecks. The Octopus Foundation was worried that if they waited too long, the artifacts would erode away like the sediment. They also knew it was only a matter of time before someone spotted them and took them home as a souvenir or someone accidentally dragged a boat anchor or a fishing net through the site. They needed to bring everything to the surface as soon as possible. In March 2025, a team of 13 divers went back into Lake Natal to investigate the wreck.

[00:13:36]They found that the artifacts were concentrated in a 60 m x 25 m area or 200 by 80 ft. The most numerous items were ceramic plates, cups, bowls, and goblets. Many of them looked similar, like they were mass-produced for a large audience. But perhaps the most interesting thing about the shipwreck was what the divers didn't see. The ship. Despite the fact that this massive amount of cargo couldn't have ended up at the bottom of lake any other way, there was absolutely no trace of the vessel that had brought it there.

[00:14:02]Obviously, something had gone horribly wrong on its voyage across the lake. The heavy load of terra cotta plates and bowls somehow ended up sinking and stayed in place for almost 2,000 years.

[00:14:12]Something else clearly had happened to the ship. Julian Feifer, the founder of the Octopus Foundation, told Artnet News, quote, "My positive way of looking at things, makes me feel that maybe relieved by the heavy weight of the cargo, the sailors and Roman soldiers saved their boat." Other archaeologists, however, are not so optimistic. They think that it's more likely that after the ship sank, it broke apart and the wooden fragments floated to the surface.

[00:14:33]There they were torn apart by the mechanical pressure of the waves and by bacteria as well as other wood boring organisms. After a few decades, there had been nothing left of it. Either way, the ship is gone. All that remains is the cargo that it was carrying. During two weeks in March 2025, the dive team brought over 150 artifacts to the surface. Most of them were ceramic table wear like plates, bowls, cups, and goblets. The archaeologists were thrilled with this discovery because these are not the kind of things they normally find in their excavations.

[00:15:00]Underwater archaeology is an important piece in the jigsaw puzzle that is figuring out the past. It's joked that history is raising dead people's mail and archaeology is going through dead people's garbage. While that is an oversimplification, it is true that a lot of artifacts found on land are broken. That's why it's so exciting when someone stumbles across an undisturbed tomb or a hidden cache of items. They're a deviation from the norm. Underwater sites, however, are different. They're like a time capsule. Shipwrecks are usually chalk full of artifacts that never made it to the trash. In the right conditions, there might even be clothing or personal items that literally exist nowhere else in the world. And if the cargo is intact, there may be large numbers of artifacts that were never even used at all. In archaeological terms, the pottery from the Roman cargo ship was basically brand new. This is quite exciting because it meant that from now on, these would be the textbook examples of what pottery looks like for this time period. There were also some more unusual finds among all their table wear. There were pieces of two amphoui, which are large two-handled jugs that are used to transport wine and olive oil. The team at the Octopus Foundation are confident that these were used for olive oil, and even more interesting, it was likely produced in Spain and shipped to Switzerland. The team also found parts of a harness, the kind used to attach horses to a wagon. Nearby were two amazingly preserved wooden metal spoked wheels. They were likely part of a chariot, a small two- wheeled vehicle that was normally used for military campaigns or in racing events. This was an extraordinary find. Nothing like this had ever been discovered in Switzerland before. By the time the twoe excavation was over, it was clear that the team needed to plan another one as soon as possible. There were still hundreds of artifacts on the bottom of the lake, and no one had a good explanation as to why a ship loaded with mostly table wear was also carrying a Roman chariot. However, there were other shipwrecks in Lake Newell that needed attention. The Octopus Foundation installed underwater cameras that would let them know if anything happened to the precious cargo.

[00:16:50]They then crossed their fingers and hoped everything would still be there when they returned.

[00:16:56]final excavation.

[00:16:58]Now, in the months between the excavations, a team of local archaeologists and conservators from the Latanium Museum examined the artifacts removed from the lake bed. To avoid giving the 2,000-year-old artifacts too much of a shock, the team kept them submerged in a pool of water that was cooled to the same temperature as the lake. One by one, the team removed the artifacts, stabilized them, and took a closer look. All that sand, dirt, and clay floating around during the excavation could make it difficult to make out small but important details.

[00:17:26]Preliminary analysis suggests that the pottery was made in Switzerland, but there is a lot of it and not everything has been examined yet. The next set of excavations was scheduled for a year later in March 2026. The plan was to retrieve all the Roman cargo still at the bottom of Lake Nutel. There would be 19 excavation units to carefully document each item before bringing it to the surface. And each unit was 4 m or 13 ft square. It was an enormous undertaking, but if they wanted to save the artifacts, this might be their last opportunity. By the time the excavation was finished, over 1,000 artifacts have been removed from Lake Nhatel. The team spent hours on the painstaking work of removing each ceramic item, one at a time, and they were rewarded by finding fragments of the wooden crates the items were once packaged in. There were even bits of straw still stuffed between the items as cushioning. The wood and straw are currently being analyzed at the latinium museums and so far a piece of a crate has been dated with dendrochronology to 17 CE. In addition to the pottery, there were also some unusual items that revealed a lot about what was happening on this Roman cargo ship. There was the jaw-dropping discovery of a wicker basket. Now, in any other situation, a delicate item like this would have never survived for 2,000 years. However, the previously mentioned amazing preservation conditions meant that it was protected by the chalky mud. And even more incredibly, the basket still had items in it. It was more pottery, but it looked completely different from the mass-produced pieces the archaeologists were finding in abundance. This was probably what the ship's crew was using at meal times as they voyaged across the lake. Currently, the Latennia Museum is working to pull food residue from the insides of the dishes. Archaeology ising cool sometimes, isn't it? While the basket is definitely the favorite of archaeologists, the general public's more excited about something else. It turns out that Lake Nhatel had more swords to offer. Specifically, two Roman shorts swords called gladi. One of them was tucked into a wooden metal scabbard, which is incredibly rare and rather exciting. And on top of looking cool, these swords provide an important clue about what was going on with this ship.

[00:19:24]Ordinary Roman citizens weren't walking around with gladi on their belts. They were distributed to soldiers as part of their gear. If the ship had swords on it when it went down, that probably meant there were Roman soldiers on board.

[00:19:38]Another discovery solidified this theory even further. The dive team found a fibula, a type of brooch that looks something like a modern safety pin. This type of pin was part of a soldier's uniform and was used to fasten a cloak around the shoulders. This particular design was introduced during the reign of Emperor Tiberius, which means that the ship went down sometime between 20 and 50 CE. In addition to the sword and fibula, the team also found a pickaxe and a belt buckle that appeared to belong to soldiers. Clearly, this wasn't an ordinary merchant ship. It was associated with the military in some way, and the soldiers on board were likely an official escort. The Octopus Foundation believes the ship was headed to the north end of the lake, probably on its way to the military camp at Vindana. It was home to about 6,000 Roman soldiers, and they were all expecting their standard issue Roman gear. That many people would need a literal boatload of table wear to keep their meals running smoothly. But unluckily for them, of course, it never arrived. As the ship approached the north end of the lake, something happened that caused it to sink. And that's where it stayed for 2,000 years.

[00:20:37]The discovery of over a thousand artifacts in a Swiss lake is more than just a fascinating discovery. This is a huge step forward in understanding what life was like at the edges of the Roman Empire. The world owes gratitude to the intrepid team of divers that retrieved the artifacts from the bottom of the lake. Not only did they bring them to the surface for the first time in 2,000 years, but without them, we never would have known what lay at the bottom of Lake Netal all that time. Thank you for watching.