World's oldest shipwreck found off Kekova Island in Turkey - BBC

Skip to Main ContentAccessibility HelpMenuCBC GemCBC ListenSearchQuick LinksNewsSportsRadioMusicListen LiveTVWatchnewsTop StoriesLocalClimateWorldCanadaPoliticsIndigenousBusinessThe NationalHealthEntertainmentScienceCBC News InvestigatesDisability LifeGo PublicAbout CBC NewsBeing Black in CanadaVideoWorld's oldest shipwreck found off Turkey | The Moment | CBC.ca LoadedWorld's oldest shipwreck found off Turkey | The MomentOctober 16|Duration 1:10October 16NewsDuration 1:10closed captionHakan Oniz, a professor at Turkey's Akdeniz University, tells The National about the moment he and his team stumbled upon the world's oldest known shipwreck near Kekova Island, off the coast of southern Turkey. Related StoriesIndonesian divers recover 3 bodies from capsized ferry as salvage operation beginsChildren among at least 139 dead after migrant boat capsizes off Djibouti coastA swordfish was found on Haida Gwaii. Will more follow? A feather found in dino poop, and more...

Culture Minister Ersoy said it sheds light on ancient maritime trade in the eastern Mediterranean. Turkiye’s Culture Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy has said the country unearthed ancient treasures from what he called “the world’s oldest shipwreck”. Underwater excavations near Kekova Island in the southern Antalya province uncovered ceramic storage jars dating back 4,700 years to the Early Bronze Age, Ersoy announced in a post on X on Wednesday. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Egyptologists uncover ‘lost golden city’ buried under the sandslist 2 of 4Mud mosque dating back to the Umayyad era discovered in Iraqlist 3 of 4Twenty years after the US invasion, where are Iraq’s antiquities?list 4 of 4Spanish police seize ancient jewelry worth $64m taken from Ukraineend of listWhile the vessel’s wooden hull did not survive, archaeologists recovered the ancient storage jars following an underwater excavation project launched earlier this year. The jars, believed to have transported olive oil or wine, provide concrete evidence of early maritime trade and cultural exchange across the eastern Mediterranean, according to the ministry.

A shipwreck off the coast of Turkey is the oldest shipwreck in the world, our team of archaeologists believes. There’s little left of the ship itself but based on clues from its cargo – including pottery vessels – a research team I was part of has tentatively dated the wreck to around 2700–2400 BCE.

Archaeologists estimated that the cargo ship sank 4,400 to 4,700 years ago. Archaeologists announced they have discovered the remains of the world's oldest shipwreck, a wooden cargo vessel they estimated sank off the coast of Turkey nearly 5,000 years ago. Hakan Öniz, who led the underwater excavation, said the shipwreck dates back to when the Great Pyramid of Giza was being constructed. Among the artifacts recovered from the ship, estimated to be around 30 feet long, were ceramic storage pots and clay containers that may have been used to transport olive oil and wine, Mehmet Nuri Ersoy, the Turkish minister of culture and tourism, said in a social media post on Wednesday. An archeologist excavates the remains of what is believed to be the world's shipwreck as a ceramic container from the vessel that sank off the coast of Turkey nearly 5,000 years ago. Dr. Hakan ÖnizErsoy said one of the amphoras, or containers, recovered featured nine different markings and two holes in its body and may have been used to churn cheese or butter. Ersoy said the discovery could shed light on the history of the maritime trade along the Anatolian coasts.