World’s oldest known shipwreck discovered off Turkey

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4,400- to 4,700-year-old Early Bronze Age trading vessel found near Kekova Island

Archaeologists have discovered what they believe is the world’s oldest known shipwreck off the coast of Turkey, uncovering a remarkable glimpse into Mediterranean trade nearly 4,700 years ago.

The vessel, found near Kekova Island in the southern province of Antalya, dates to the Early Bronze Age, around the time Egypt’s Great Pyramid of Giza was being built.

Although the ship’s wooden structure has disappeared, its cargo remains scattered across the seabed, and some ceramic vessels still contain traces of the materials they once held.

The ancient wreck lies approximately 30 metres beneath the Mediterranean Sea, close to the shore of Kekova Island. Archaeologists from Turkey’s Mediterranean Archaeology Association documented the site during research led by Professor Hakan Öniz of Akdeniz University.

The vessel is believed to have been about 10 metres long and used to transport goods between trading centres across the Mediterranean. More than 30 large ceramic storage pots, known as amphorae, were found scattered across a seabed consisting of sandy and rocky areas, alongside three large stone anchors.

Researchers identified two three-holed stone anchors and one single-holed anchor. The three-holed examples resemble anchors found at Bronze Age sites associated with the Minoan, Cypriot, Anatolian and Levantine cultures, while the single-holed anchor is similar to those found along the Bronze Age Anatolian and Levantine coasts.

“The shipwreck is a time capsule at the bottom of the sea,” Öniz said, describing the significance of the discovery.

Researchers estimate that the vessel dates to between 2600 and 2400 BC, making it approximately 4,400 to 4,700 years old. If confirmed as the oldest known shipwreck, the discovery would take the record from the Dokos shipwreck in the Aegean Sea, which dates to around 2200 BC.

The Dokos wreck was discovered in 1975 and is more than 4,200 years old. The newly documented Turkish vessel would therefore be several centuries older than the previously recognised record-holder.

Scientists could not use radiocarbon dating to establish the Turkish wreck’s age because none of the ship’s wooden structure survived. Instead, they examined the shapes and decorative features of the ceramic vessels and compared them with pottery from other ancient sites.

The amphorae have distinctive features, including two handles, a ridge around the middle and a flat base. Their designs resemble Early Bronze Age pottery discovered in Egypt and the Middle East, helping researchers establish the wreck’s likely age.

“Comparing the decoration techniques… we can definitely say our wreck is Early Bronze Age. This is 100%,” Öniz said.

The discovery was documented through research into the Kekova region in the Demre district of Antalya, with findings detailed in the Journal of Maritime Archaeology.

The shipwreck could shed new light on the trading networks that connected communities across the eastern Mediterranean thousands of years ago.

Researchers believe the vessel began its journey somewhere along the eastern Mediterranean coast, potentially carrying goods towards the ancient city of Troy in what is now north-western Turkey or towards Crete, home of the Minoan civilisation.

Turkey’s Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy said analysis of the clay used in the ceramic vessels suggested that they may have been produced in workshops in the Jordan Valley.

Similar pottery has been discovered near Egypt’s pyramids at Giza, Saqqara and Abusir, as well as at Troy and on the Greek island of Crete. These similarities could help researchers reconstruct the routes used by ancient merchants and identify links between distant trading communities.

One amphora appears similar to containers used during the Bronze Age to transport agricultural products such as wine and olive oil. Archaeologists also documented decorative details on a vessel, including two parallel lines made with a pointed tool and a zigzag pattern across its middle.

Another recovered container, marked with nine symbols and featuring two holes, is being examined for evidence that it may have been used in cheese or butter production.

One of the most surprising aspects of the discovery is the preservation of material inside some of the ceramic vessels.

After divers brought the pots to the surface, archaeologists began carefully conserving them and examining their contents. Dr Karin Sowada, an archaeologist at Macquarie University in Australia, inspected the recovered amphorae and was astonished to find that some intact vessels still contained a thick, glossy residue.

“I looked inside and nearly fainted. I could not believe how much [residue] was visible. It wasn’t just like spots…. a lot of this material was still remaining,” Sowada said.

Scientists are now working to identify the substance. Possible explanations include olive oil, wine or tree resins, although researchers have not yet established what the residue contains.

Sowada also cautioned that the material might not represent the vessels’ original cargo. The jars could have been reused many times after being emptied, meaning the residue may have come from a later use rather than the shipment carried when the vessel sank.

She noted that such large containers were unlikely to have been discarded after a single journey. Merchants and other users may have emptied them upon arrival and continued using them for many years.

The waters around Kekova Island have long posed risks to ships because of strong winds and powerful currents. The ancient trading vessel appears to have sunk along a Mediterranean route, leaving its cargo undisturbed beneath the sea for thousands of years.

The surrounding region contains hundreds of shipwrecks, making it an important area for underwater archaeology. The Mediterranean Archaeology Association specialises in locating and studying these wrecks to better understand maritime history.

For Öniz, the discovery is also a reminder of the people whose lives were connected to the ship. He said his thoughts while diving at the site turn to the sailors, the people who produced the amphorae, those who carried the heavy jars aboard and the women who waited for sailors who never returned.

“We are the first humans who [have] touched these objects after 5,000 years,” he said.

His reflections underline the human story behind the archaeological find: a trading voyage that ended in disaster, leaving objects that have survived long after the people who made, transported and used them.

The shipwreck and its recovered cargo are owned by Turkey’s Ministry of Culture. The ministry plans to display the artefacts at the new Mediterranean Underwater Archaeology Museum in Antalya when it opens in the coming months.

Before then, the ceramic vessels will continue to undergo conservation and scientific examination. Researchers hope that further analysis of the pottery, anchors and surviving residue will reveal more about the vessel’s origin, its cargo and the ancient trading communities that relied on Mediterranean sea routes.

The discovery offers a rare opportunity to study maritime commerce during the Early Bronze Age, preserving clues to a voyage that began nearly five millennia ago.

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