World’s Oldest Shipwreck Found in Turkey: 4,700-Year-Old Jars May Reveal Ancient Trade Secrets

Ceramic storage vessels recovered off Turkey‘s Kekova Island still contain visible residue, offering researchers a rare opportunity to investigate what Bronze Age traders carried across the Mediterranean.

Archaeologists studying what is believed to be the world’s oldest known shipwreck have found ceramic storage jars with visible residue still inside. The discovery raises the possibility that the ancient cargo could reveal new details about trade during the Early Bronze Age.

The wreck lies near Kekova Island in Antalya, Turkey, and is estimated to be between 4,400 and 4,700 years old. The ship’s wooden structure has not survived, but more than 30 ceramic storage vessels, known as amphorae, were found scattered across an underwater slope about 30 meters below the surface.

Some of the jars still hold a thick, glossy substance that has surprised researchers. Scientists have not yet identified it, and it is unclear whether the residue is the original cargo or the result of the vessels being reused.

Ancient Jars Could Reveal What Bronze Age Traders Transported

The residue is one of the most intriguing parts of the find because it may help researchers understand how early Mediterranean commerce worked. Dr. Karin Sowada, an archaeologist at Macquarie University in Australia, examined the recovered vessels and was struck by how much material remained inside some of them, according to BBC.

Olive oil, wine and tree resins are possible explanations, but none has been confirmed. Researchers are continuing to analyze the material.

The jars may also have been reused. According to Sowada, large storage vessels could have been emptied at their destination and used again rather than thrown away after one trip. If the residue comes from a later use, identifying it could still show how such containers were handled and maintained. Establishing whether it belongs to the ship’s original cargo will be key to understanding what the find says about the voyage.

What the Shipwreck Reveals About Early Mediterranean Trade

The ship is believed to have been about 10 meters long and to have carried goods across the Mediterranean. Archaeologists think it set out from somewhere along the eastern Mediterranean coast. Its destination may have been the ancient city of Troy, in what is now northwestern Turkey, or Crete, home of the Minoan civilization. The origin and destination have not been established.

Three large stone anchors were also found at the site. Together with the pottery, they show the kind of equipment and goods the vessel carried, though they do not prove its route.

The find offers a chance to study maritime exchange at a time when communities around the Mediterranean were building trade networks. Identifying the residue and studying the pottery further could give a clearer picture of the goods moving between regions. Comparing the jars with similar pottery found elsewhere could also point to links between communities on different coasts.

How Archaeologists Dated the 4,700-Year-Old Wreck

The wreck’s age comes from the pottery, not the ship itself. Because the wood has not survived, researchers could not use radiocarbon dating on the hull. They instead compared the shape and decoration of the amphorae with similar vessels found in Egypt and the Middle East.

The recovered pottery has two handles, a ridge around the middle and a flat base. Prof. Hakan Öniz of Akdeniz University in Turkey, who led the Mediterranean Archaeology Association expedition, said the design and decoration match pottery from the Early Bronze Age.

That puts the wreck at roughly 4,400 to 4,700 years old, around the time the Great Pyramid of Giza was being built. It would make the site older than the previous record-holder, a shipwreck near the Greek island of Dokos estimated at 4,200 years old.

Why the Cargo Matters Beyond the Discovery

The wooden ship is gone, but the surviving pottery and its contents could preserve information about a voyage that ended thousands of years ago. Researchers still need to determine what the residue is and whether it belonged to the original cargo. Until then, the jars cannot be treated as proof of a particular traded commodity.

Even so, the material gives archaeologists a rare chance to study the contents of ancient storage vessels, not just their shape and location. As conservation and analysis continue, the Kekova wreck could show how goods were stored, carried and possibly reused in the Early Bronze Age.