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The moment of discovery was particularly impressive for the underwater archaeologists. Diving in Lake Neuchâtel, Fabien Langenegger and Julien Pfyffer made a spectacular discovery from the Roman Empire.
“At first, we both cautiously approached this pile of circles, which could have been a depot of mines left behind from the Second World War. But when I switched on my camera light, the characteristic colour of terracotta emerged. Looking at some broken plates, we realised that this find was extraordinary.”
This is how Julien Pfyffer of Swiss NGO Octopus Foundation describes the discovery of a particularly well-preserved cargo from a ship that probably sank between 20 and 50 AD in an interview with Euronews. Even food remains found in the ceramic vessels are now being analysed.
“We remained rooted to the spot above the cargo”
“We stood rooted to the spot over this load for several minutes. At that moment, as I watched Fabien, I realised that we were in a very special situation.” This was at the end of November 2024, but was kept secret for a long time to avoid looting.
Drone footage showing a dark spot in the water of Lake Neuchâtel, which had been clearer for several years, had initiated the dive – the search was for a wreck. During excavation campaigns – lasting two weeks in 2025 and almost a month in 2026 – the underwater archaeologists from the Octopus Foundation unearthed more than 1,000 objects.
Clues about kitchen utensils and legionnaires
It is assumed that this was the cargo of a freight ship that was supposed to bring kitchen utensils manufactured in Switzerland to a Roman camp. One crate was dated to the year 17 AD.
The wreck of the cargo ship has not yet been found in Lake Neuchâtel. In recent decades, Roman ships have been excavated in both the Rhine in Germany and the Rhône in France.
However, objects were found that belonged to the equipment of legionaries – namely two gladiator swords, a dagger, a belt buckle and a fibula. According to the team of archaeologists, these suggest that legionnaires were escorting the ship. Given the quantity of artefacts found, the cargo could have been intended for a legion of around 6,000 men.
A wicker basket was also discovered, which, according to archaeologists, “has been miraculously preserved in the lake chalk and contains a group of six ceramic objects that differ in their manufacture from the rest of the load.” The research team assumes that these are the less elaborate crockery and food of the seamen, i.e. the ship’s sailors.
“We have recovered from the water all the artefacts – just over 1000 – that were in danger of being damaged by anchors or nets or stolen by looters. These artefacts are now in the cleaning phase and are being processed by the restoration team on land. Once this phase is complete, the restorers can discuss with the archaeologists what they have observed and what we completely miss during the excavation phase, as we are very often in the middle of a cloud of sediment,” explains Julien Pfyffer. “The restorers will be able to recognise details (such as manufacturing seals, traces of food, protective elements such as straw between the plates) that are very difficult for us to see in the water.”
The Octopus Foundation team is preparing a book and a documentary film to be published in 2027. An exhibition of the spectacular finds will be held at the Laténium (source in German), Switzerland’s largest archaeological museum, in Neuchâtel. A date has not yet been set. And there is still a lot to discover: according to the Octopus team, there are more historical artefacts in the oceans than in all the museums in the world.