Ancient cargo off Turkey points to world’s oldest known shipwreck

Archaeologists have recovered ceramic cargo from a wreck off Turkey’s Kekova Island that they identify as the world’s oldest known shipwreck. Dated to between 4,400 and 4,700 years ago, it offers a glimpse of Mediterranean trade around the time Egypt’s Great Pyramid was built.

More than 30 large storage jars, known as amphorae, were found about 30 metres below the surface. The ship’s wood has disappeared, but some jars remain intact, with glossy residue still visible inside after thousands of years underwater.

The team, led by Hakan Öniz of Akdeniz University, dated the wreck by comparing the jars’ shapes and decoration with pottery of known age from Egypt and the Middle East. Clay analysis suggests the jars were probably made in workshops in the Jordan Valley.

Researchers are now working to identify the residue. Possibilities include wine, olive oil and tree resin, although the jars may have been reused, meaning their contents could reflect more than one use.

The cargo provides evidence of maritime connections across the eastern Mediterranean. Researchers believe the ship may have left a port on its eastern coast, heading towards Troy or Crete. The recovered jars are being carefully conserved, and Turkey’s culture minister says the artefacts will be displayed at a new underwater archaeology museum in Antalya.