Türkiye açıklarındaki bir batık, bugüne dek bilinen en eski gemi batığı olabilir

Archaeologists believe that a wreck off Kekova, on Turkey’s southern coast near Antalya, may be the oldest shipwreck identified so far. Associate Professor Hakan Öniz of Akdeniz University located it in shallow water in 2024 after local seafarers pointed him towards the site. Nothing of the hull is visible any longer, so the team has relied on the cargo: large two-handled storage jars, many circled by a raised clay band. Judging by the shape and manufacture of this pottery, the researchers tentatively place the ship around 2700–2400 BCE, roughly 4,500 years ago. That would make it older than the wreck near Dokos in Greece, thought to be about 4,200 years old. The dating is still being refined, and no peer-reviewed paper has appeared yet. Residues visible inside the jars await analysis, but they might come from wine, olive oil or tree resin. The vessel probably sought shelter between two islands in a storm before hitting the rocks.