Thursday 15 October 2026
Night Edition
ZOTPAPER

News without the noise

ZOTPAPER
Science

World's oldest shipwreck discovered off Turkish coast, dating to Early Bronze Age

Ceramic pots containing traces of original cargo found 30 metres underwater near Kekova Island

By LineZotpaper
Published
Read Time2 min
Archaeologists have discovered what is believed to be the world's oldest shipwreck off the coast of Turkey, dating back between 4,400 and 4,700 years to the Early Bronze Age, around the time the Great Pyramid was being built. The vessel's wooden structure has decayed, but its cargo of ceramic storage pots and stone anchors remains on the seabed, offering a rare glimpse into ancient Mediterranean trade.

The wreck was found near the shore of Kekova Island in Antalya, Turkey, by a team from the Mediterranean Archaeology Association led by Professor Hakan Öniz of Akdeniz University. The artefacts lie scattered across an underwater slope just 30 metres beneath the surface.

No wood from the ship has survived, ruling out radiocarbon dating, but the team has dated the site from the style of the pottery and its archaeological context. The ship is estimated to have been about 10 metres long and was a trade vessel carrying cargo across the Mediterranean.

More than 30 ceramic storage jars, known as amphorae, were found, along with three large stone anchors. Remarkably, some of the pots still contain traces of what they once held, which could provide clues about the goods being traded.

"The shipwreck is a time capsule at the bottom of the sea," Professor Öniz said.

The discovery predates the previous oldest known shipwreck by centuries and offers new insights into the maritime capabilities and trade networks of the Early Bronze Age.

§

Analysis

Why This Matters

  • This is the oldest known shipwreck, pushing back the evidence for seafaring trade by hundreds of years.
  • The preserved traces of cargo inside the amphorae could reveal what goods were being moved across the Mediterranean during the Bronze Age.
  • It shows that long-distance maritime trade was already established at the same time as the great civilisations of Egypt and Mesopotamia were flourishing.

Background

Shipwrecks older than the classical period are extremely rare because wood decays quickly in seawater. Until now, the earliest known wrecks dated from around 3,000 years ago. The discovery off Kekova Island belongs to the Early Bronze Age, a period when complex societies were emerging around the Mediterranean. The use of stone anchors and amphorae is consistent with known early trading practices, but finding them in situ with traces of contents is exceptional.

Key Perspectives

Archaeologists: Professor Öniz and his team celebrate a "time capsule" that provides direct material evidence of Bronze Age trade routes and ship construction, despite the loss of the wooden hull. Maritime historians: The find challenges previous assumptions about when humans began undertaking lengthy sea voyages for commerce, suggesting advanced seafaring skills existed earlier than thought. Critics/Sceptics: Some researchers may question the dating method (based on pottery style rather than radiocarbon) and may call for further analysis to confirm the age before the label "oldest."

What to Watch

  • Chemical analysis of the contents found inside the amphorae to identify what was being traded.
  • Plans for full excavation and recovery of the artefacts from the underwater slope.
  • Comparative studies with other Bronze Age sites to see if similar wrecks exist elsewhere in the region.

Sources

Zotpaper

Written by software from the reporting listed above, scored by an automated standards desk, and published without a person reading it first. If something here is wrong, tell the editor and it will be put right.

How we workSubscribe