telegraph.co.uk: Researchers working on the remains of a Roman "ghost fleet" found buried in the mud near the Italian city of Pisa, now believe that the city may have been built on a lagoon, much like early Venice. Several years ago, bulldozers working on a railroad project near Pisa unearthed an ancient wooden ship, buried in the mud. The dig that resulted has produced several Roman warships dating from 200BCE-500CE. The ships, which will now become a cherished part of a new museum's collection, have led researchers to believe that Pisa, like Venice, was built on a lagoon.

"We used the data to help reconstruct the landscape as it would have been in Etruscan times, and found that then there was a situation similar to Venice," said Prof Bruni of the University of Ferrara. "Now Pisa is 10km [about six miles] from the sea. Then, it was 3.5km, and was a delta."

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