4,700-Year-Old Shipwreck Discovered Off Turkey's Coast

In addition to vessels, researchers found two three-holed stone anchors and one single-holed stone anchor in the area surrounding the shipwreck site, resembling anchors found at other Bronze Age sites.

Archaeologists on the coast of Turkey have identified the remains of the oldest shipwreck in the world. Based on the evaluations, this ship belongs to the early Bronze Age and its age is estimated between 4400 and 4700 years.

According to Ambassador Arjan, although the ship's wooden structure has been destroyed over time, researchers have determined its age between 2600 and 2400 BC by examining and dating clay containers for storing goods and stone anchors left near Kekova Island. With this find, the discovered artifact takes over the title of the world's oldest shipwreck from the Dokos shipwreck in the Aegean Sea, which dates back to around 2200 BC. The excavation was completed by a team led by Hakan Oniz, an underwater archaeologist from Akdeniz University in Antalya.

Details of the cargo and anchors of the world's oldest shipwreck

According to this study, the details of which have been published in the Journal of Marine Archaeology, Akdeniz University conducted a research in the Kekova area located in Demre County of Antalya, and in the course of it, found a shipwreck carrying "amphorae" (Amphorae, which are large and elongated clay vessels with two handles) belonging to the early Bronze Age. Studies show that some of these jars are very similar to the pottery of the early Bronze Age in the "Sham" region (including parts of Lebanon, Syria, Israel, and today's Palestine).

These ceramic vessels were scattered at a depth of about 30 meters and in a bed that is partly sandy and partly rocky. One of these jars has a structure similar to containers for carrying agricultural products such as olive oil and drinks in the Bronze Age. According to archaeologists, in the upper part of this amphora, two parallel lines carved with a sharp tool and a zigzag design can be seen in the middle.

In addition to the vessels, researchers have found two three-holed stone anchors and one single-holed stone anchor in the vicinity of the ship discovery area, which are similar to the anchors found in other Bronze Age sites.

According to the explanations published in the research, the three-hole anchors are similar to the examples known in the ancient sites of the Minoan civilization, Cyprus, Anatolia, and the Levant region, while the single-hole anchor is similar to the examples seen on the Bronze Age coasts of Anatolia and Levant. Although it is still uncertain whether these anchors were part of the ship's equipment, they provide valuable information about the anchoring technology common in the region during the Bronze Age.

According to current data, this wreck belongs to a small vessel that sunk on its way from east to west during the early Bronze Age.