Five-thousand-year-old ship reveals ancient trade routes
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Archaeologists in Turkey discovered the remains of a 5,000-year-old ship off the coast of Kekova Island, providing a rare glimpse into ancient trade and life during the Early Bronze Age.
The ship, contemporary with the construction of the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt, no longer had wooden structures preserved, but numerous clay vessels remained on the seabed. These vessels, known as amphorae, once held goods transported across the Mediterranean Sea.
Researchers determined the ship was approximately 10 meters long and used to carry products. Professor Hakan Öniz of Akdeniz University, leading the research, described the wreckage as a “time capsule” beneath the sea. Unable to use radiocarbon dating on the wood, the team analyzed the style of the amphorae, which share similarities with those found in Egypt and the Middle East, dating them between 4,400 and 4,700 years old.
The archaeologists recovered the amphorae and found residue inside many of them. Karin Sowada, an archaeologist from Macquarie University in Australia, was surprised to find substantial remains of the original contents, potentially including olive oil, wine, or tree-based substances. The team believes the ship originated from the eastern Mediterranean coast and may have been traveling to the ancient city of Troy in Turkey or the Minoan civilization on the island of Crete.
The discovered shipwreck is now considered the oldest known in the world, surpassing a 4,200-year-old wreck found near the Greek island of Dokos. The Turkish Ministry of Culture plans to display the artifacts in a new underwater archaeology museum in Antalya.
