In brief
A team of divers has uncovered a five‑thousand‑year‑old shipwreck off the coast of Kekova, Turkey, marking it the oldest known wreck in the world. The vessel, about ten metres long, was a trade ship carrying 30 ceramic amphorae that still hold a glossy residue, possibly olive oil or wine. With stone anchors scattered on the seafloor, experts dated the wreck to the Early Bronze Age (4,400–4,700 years ago) using pottery styles. The discovery provides fresh insight into maritime commerce of the era and is slated for display in Antalya’s new Underwater Archaeology Museum.
The world’s oldest shipwreck has been uncovered just 30 metres below the waves off Turkey’s Kekova island, experts say.
Radiocarbon dating was impossible because the ship’s wooden hull has long gone. Instead, archaeologists examined the shape and decoration of more than 30 ceramic amphorae to pin the wreck to the Early Bronze Age, around 4,400–4,700 years ago, the same period the Great Pyramid was being built.
Three stone anchors and the amphorae were found scattered across a gentle underwater slope. The pots, still holding a faint, glossy residue, may have once carried olive oil, wine or tree resin.
Prof Hakan Öniz, head of the expedition, describes the site as “a time capsule at the bottom of the sea” and says the vessel was about ten metres long and bound for either Troy in north‑western Turkey or the Minoan islands of Crete.
With the wreck now the oldest known in the world, the discoverers plan to display the artefacts in Antalya’s new Mediterranean Underwater Archaeology Museum when it opens next month.
