The shipwreck found near the island of Kekova in the Antalya region is estimated to be between 4,400 and 4,700 years old, placing it at the top of the list of the world’s oldest shipwrecks. The vessel dates to the early Bronze Age, roughly around the time the Great Pyramid was built in Giza.
The wooden structure of the ship has not survived, so only the cargo remains on the sea floor — ceramic vessels. According to estimates by archaeologists, the ship was approximately 10 metres long and was used for transporting cargo across the Mediterranean. The wreck lies at a depth of 30 metres, with artefacts scattered across an underwater slope.
Among the items recovered are three large stone anchors and more than 30 storage jars, known as amphorae. The expedition, led by Professor Hakan Öniz from Akdeniz University, focused on the site. Since the wood of the ship did not survive, radiocarbon dating could not be applied; instead, the age was determined by analysing the shape of the amphorae found.
The ceramics from the island of Kekova feature a specific design: two handles, a bulge in the middle, and a flat base. This shape corresponds to amphorae found in Egypt and the Levant, which are known to be 4,400 to 4,700 years old. Divers retrieved the vessels, and specialists are now carefully conserving them. In some of the amphorae, traces of the original contents remain.
It is assumed that the vessels carried olive oil, wine, or tree resin. Dr. Karin Sowada, an archaeologist from Macquarie University, reviewed the amphorae and stated that the contents could have been olive oil, wine, or plant resins. Archaeologists believe the ship set out from somewhere along the eastern Mediterranean coast, where hundreds of shipwrecks are scattered, and that it was transporting goods either to ancient Troy in northwestern Turkey or to the Minoans on Crete.
The previous record was held by the wreck off the Greek island of Dokosa, dated to approximately 4,200 years ago. The oldest wreck with preserved wooden structure was found in the Black Sea near Bulgaria and dates to approximately 2,400 years ago. The association specialises in locating and studying shipwrecks, and the discovery near Kek now takes the top spot on the list of the world’s oldest shipwrecks.
