Turkey Shipwreck May Be the World’s Oldest, Dating Back 4,700 Years

A submerged shipwreck off Turkey's Mediterranean coast may be the world's oldest known remains of a seagoing vessel. The Early Bronze Age shipwreck, located near Kekova Island, once carried over 30 ceramic storage jars on its deck, providing clues to its age and origins. Though the wooden structure has disintegrated, researchers have determined the vessel likely dates to between 2700 and 2400 BC—nearly 4,500 years ago.

This would make it older than the traditional oldest known shipwreck, the Dokos shipwreck off Greece, which is dated to around 2200 BC. Three stone anchors found nearby have been compared to similar anchors from Bronze Age sites in Anatolia, the Levant, Cyprus, and the Minoan world, though it is unclear if they belonged to the wreck.

The cargo includes ceramic jars that suggest trade links between eastern Mediterranean communities. How the vessel met its end remains uncertain, but researchers believe it may have struck rocks in a storm while navigating southern Turkey's coast. Further excavations may help refine the ship's age and confirm the nature of its cargo, shedding more light on early maritime exchange during the Early Bronze Age.