History & Heritage
A shipwreck off Turkey may be the oldest known
Akdeniz University reported on October 15, 2026, that its team had raised very old clay jars from a wreck near Kekova Island.
Underwater archaeologists in Turkey are studying a shipwreck that may be the oldest known in the world. On October 15, 2026, Akdeniz University reported that its scientists had brought up clay jars from the wreck near Kekova Island. The university says the jars are 4,400 to 4,700 years old and calls the wreck the world's oldest.
The wreck lies in the Kekova area of Antalya province, on Turkey's Mediterranean coast. A university team first documented it during a survey of the area in 2024. They raised one jar that year and another in 2025 so that they could study them closely. The excavation, led by the Antalya Museum, began in 2026 with permission from Turkey's Ministry of Culture and Tourism. Hakan Öniz, an expert on underwater heritage at Akdeniz University, leads the scientific work.
Word in this story
The goods that a ship, plane or truck carries from one place to another.
News reports say that nothing of the wooden ship has survived, only its cargo of jars.