Ancient gray disks loaded with zinc and beeswax found aboard a
shipwreck more than 2,000 years old may have been used as
medicine for the eyes, researchers say. These new findings shed
light on the development of medicine over the centuries,
scientists added. Scientists analyzed six flat gray tablets
approximately 1.6 inches (4 centimeters) in diameter and 0.4
inches (1 cm) thick that were found in a round tin box aboard
the so-called Relitto del Pozzino shipwreck, which was
discovered about 60 feet (18 meters) underwater in 1974 on the
seabed of the Baratti Gulf off the coast of Tuscany. The hull,
only 50 to 60 feet (15 to 18 m) long and about 10 feet (3 m)
wide, dated back to about 140 B.C. The Roman shipwreck lay near
the remains of the Etruscan city of Populonia, which at the time
the ship foundered was a key port along sea trade routes between
the west and east across the Mediterranean Sea. A number of
artifacts were unearthed during the excavation, including wine
jars, an inkwell, tin and bronze jugs, s