The interest in Post-Mediaeval shipwrecks signaled the beginning of the organized research and protection of underwater cultural heritage in Croatia. The first underwater archaeological operation took place on a wreck in the bay of Veliki Molunat south of Dubrovnik. Three other shipwrecks dating to the 16th and the 17th century were explored in the late 1960s and 1970s, but after the first enthusiastic period, when several interesting wrecks had been partially excavated, interest in the study of post-mediaeval wrecks ceased and the operations were never completed. That situation deprived naval history and nautical archaeology of the most valuable information on post-mediaeval Adriatic shipbuilding, seafaring and trade, while free access to the sites and the aggressive action of the “sea worm” seriously endangered the remains left on the seabed.

In order to involve a group of experts at the interdisciplinary level, and to raise their interest in the post-mediaeval period by pointing out the variety and validity of the information provided by the serious research of either shipwrecks from the stated period or valuable historical sources, a project entitled Educational programme in nautical archaeology and history of navigation; 16th-17th century was proposed and supported by the UNESCO Participation program 2008-2009. It involves various experts and graduate and postgraduate students coordinated by the University of Zadar, Croatia and the University Ca' Foscari of Venice, Italy. The project aims to revive the attention of the scholars and the organizations responsible for the research and protection of the underwater cultural heritage to the sites that were abandoned in the past. They still have great, though rapidly disappearing, potential and could serve as pilot projects for the future research and protection of that group of extremely complex and delicate underwater sites.

The Symposium in Dubrovnik, as one of the many important activities of the project, provides an opportunity for
scholars to exchange their knowledge and experience related to the following topics:

1. Methodology in archaeological and historical studies of Mediaeval and Post-Medieval shipwrecks and their cargos

2. The preservation of Medieval and Post-Mediaeval shipwrecks: problems and solutions.