A 4,500-Year-Old Shipwreck Off Turkey, the Oldest Ever Found?

A Wreck That Surpasses the Former Record of Dokos

According to The Conversation, whose article ScienceDaily republished, the wreck located off Kekova, west of Antalya, is roughly dated to between 2700 and 2400 BCE. Until now, the oldest known shipwreck was that of Dokos, in Greece, estimated at about 4,200 years old.

The authors nonetheless urge caution: the work is not finished, and the article presenting the results has not yet been published in a peer-reviewed journal. Dates somewhat earlier or later remain possible.

A Discovery Made Thanks to Local Fishermen

According to ScienceDaily, associate professor Hakan Öniz of Akdeniz University in Antalya has been working for decades on the shipwrecks of this coastline. He found this wreck in 2024, in shallow waters, by following leads provided by local sailors.

Karin Sowada, a specialist in desert sites, was called on to date part of the pottery. She describes an unusual experience, combining underwater excavation methods with delicate conservation techniques. Divers spent four months prying the ceramics free from the barnacles that covered them.

A Cargo That Tells the Story of Trade

The cargo included large storage jars called amphorae, with flat bases and two handles, many of which bear a kind of raised clay "belt" around the body. Their shape and manufacturing technique make it possible to date them and infer their probable origin.

Residues were still visible to the naked eye inside the jars. Scientific analyses are ongoing, but the contents could be olive oil, wine or a resin, like those mentioned in Egyptian texts. According to early hypotheses, some of the jars, or the clay used to make them, may come from the central Jordan Valley.

Context: Exchanges in the Third Millennium

Exchanges in the eastern Mediterranean during the third millennium BCE are far less well known than those of later periods. They are documented mainly through Egyptian texts, pottery and raw materials found in ancient tombs.

At the same time, the Egyptians obtained cedar, tin, oils, resins, lapis lazuli and silver through the port of Byblos, in Lebanon. A recent study showed that the silver used by the Egyptian state around 2600 BCE came from the Lavrion mines, east of Athens. The Kekova vessel was probably not Egyptian, but it may have been part of an international maritime network.

A Wreck Awaiting Confirmation

According to The Conversation, the ship probably sought shelter in the sheltered waters between two islets during a storm, before striking the rocks. The hull timbers disappeared long ago, but the cargo remained trapped on the rocky slope.

For archaeologists, confirmation will come through the scientific publication of the results and through chemical analyses of the residues. The site is already presented as a "time capsule" of ancient trade, capable of rewriting the history of the earliest exchange networks.