Oldest canoes ever found in the Mediterranean Sea unearthed off the coast of Italy

Five canoes found at the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea were used more than 7,000 years ago for fishing and transport by people living in a Neolithic village near what is now Rome.

Archaeologists discovered the boats off the coast of Italy at La Marmotta, a prehistoric coastal settlement that is now underwater, while conducting ongoing excavations, according to a study published Wednesday (March 20) in the journal PLOS One. 

The large dugout canoes — which were constructed of alder, oak, poplar and European beech — were built between 5700 and 5100 B.C., radiocarbon dating revealed.

The boats are the oldest ever found in the Mediterranean, according to a statement.

"One of the smallest [boats] was probably used for fishing," study co-author Mario Mineo, an archaeologist and director coordinator at the Museum of Civilization in Rome, told Live Science in an email. "The two largest measured almost 11 meters long by 1.2 m wide [36 feet by 4 feet] and it is probable that — thanks also to the easy access to the Tyrrhenian coast via the Arrone river — they could have been used for further trade."

The boat builders also used "advanced construction techniques" to craft the vessels. For example, they incorporated transverse reinforcements, which would have increased the durability of the canoes' hulls, according to the statement.

Related: Dozens of Neolithic burials and 'sacrificed' urns and ax found in France