Bronze Age · c. 2700–2400 BC · Kekova Island, Antalya, Turkey
Early Bronze Age shipwreck with amphorae up to 4,700 years old found off Turkey
At least 30 storage jars, some probably made in the Jordan Valley, lie about 30 metres down near Kekova Island, though the wooden hull has not survived.
Peer-reviewed paper
Kekova Island, Turkey Archaeologists diving off Kekova Island on Turkey's Mediterranean coast have recorded the cargo of a ship that sank in the Early Bronze Age. It went down between about 4,700 and 4,400 years ago (roughly 2700 to 2400 BC).
Nothing of the wooden hull survives. At least 30 amphorae, large clay storage jars, rest on the seabed at a depth of around 100 feet (about 30 metres).
Turkey's Minister of Culture and Tourism, Mehmet Nuri Ersoy, announced the finds on 14 October. He described them as traces of the world's oldest shipwreck.
Researchers from Akdeniz University in Antalya first documented the wreck in 2024. The underwater archaeologist Hakan Öniz directs the excavation. He has published a preliminary report on the site with C. Öztosun in the Journal of Maritime Archaeology.
Dated by the style of the jars
With no timbers left to test, the date rests on the pottery. Öniz said the team used the style of the amphorae to date the wreck. That style matches vessels found in Egypt and the Middle East.
The jars have flat bases, side handles and decoration that resemble Early Bronze Age pottery from the eastern Mediterranean. One jar described in the report has two parallel incised lines near its upper part. A zigzag pattern runs between them.
Clay points to the Jordan Valley
Preliminary clay analyses suggest that some of the amphorae were made in workshops in the Jordan Valley. Comparable vessels have been found in Egypt, at Troy and on Crete.
The researchers think the ship left a port on the Levantine coast and was sailing west when it went down in the dangerous waters near the island. It was possibly heading for Crete or northwestern Turkey.
The spread of the cargo on the seabed suggests a vessel about 10 metres long. So far the team has raised two amphorae for detailed study, one in 2024 and one in 2025.
The two jars differ in clay, in how they were made and possibly in function. The team takes this as a sign that the ship carried containers meant for more than one purpose.
Karin Sowada, an archaeologist at Macquarie University in Australia, examined the jars after recovery. Some were intact and still held a viscous, glossy residue. Her team is now analysing it.
I looked inside and nearly fainted. I could not believe how much [residue] was visible.
Karin Sowada, archaeologist, Macquarie University
It could be olive oil, it could be wine, it could be tree resins.
Karin Sowada, archaeologist, Macquarie University
Sowada also cautioned that the residue may not come from the final voyage. She noted that the jars are very large. They were likely emptied on arrival and potentially used again for many years. What remains inside could therefore be the result of reuse.
One jar may have been a churn
One amphora has nine different markings and two holes in its body. Ersoy said it may have served as a churn for making cheese or butter.
If archaeologists confirm that use, it would suggest the crew processed food during the voyage. They would then not have relied only on provisions prepared before they set out.
Divers have also found three stone anchors near the wreck. Two have three holes and one has a single hole. They resemble Bronze Age anchors from Anatolia, Cyprus, Crete and the Levant. The team has not yet established whether any of them belonged to this ship.
Centuries older than Uluburun
The best-known Bronze Age wrecks on this stretch of coast are Uluburun and Cape Gelidonya. Both date from the Late Bronze Age, many centuries later. The Kekova cargo is evidence of seaborne exchange between the Levant and the Anatolian coast in a much earlier period.
More excavation and a museum display
The seabed around the site has both sandy and rocky areas. Further excavation may reveal more objects from the ship and its cargo.
The objects raised so far are being studied and conserved. They are due to go on display at the new Mediterranean Underwater Archaeology Museum in Antalya. The museum is scheduled to open in the coming months.
Sources
- A 4,700-Year-Old Shipwreck, Nine Mysterious Marks, and an Unexpected Clue to Life at Sea (Arkeonews)
- World's Oldest Shipwreck Discovered in the Mediterranean (Archaeology Magazine)
- 4,700-year-old amphorae found off coast of Turkey (The History Blog)
Paper: Öniz, H., Öztosun, C. Preliminary Report on the Early Bronze Age Shipwreck in the Kekova Region of Antalya. Journal of Maritime Archaeology 21, 41 (2026). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11457-026-09532-3
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