​World’s oldest shipwreck found off Turkey, archaeologists say: “Time capsule at the bottom of the sea”

October 14, 2026 / 1:44 PM EDT / CBS News

Archaeologists have discovered the world's oldest shipwreck off the coast of Turkey, dating it to between 4,400 and 4,700 years old.

The structure of the ship has not survived the nearly five millennia underwater, but its contents of clay jars have been preserved surprisingly well, with some still containing traces of what they transported over 4,000 years ago.

The archaeologists who found the vessel said that it was a nearly 33-foot-long trade ship transporting goods across the Mediterranean Sea and originated somewhere on the eastern Mediterranean coast.

The wreck dates back to the same time period as when the Pyramids of Giza were being built, and will "offer insights into ancient trading connections and the everyday lives of seafarers," according to Turkey's Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy.

"The shipwreck is a time capsule at the bottom of the sea," Hakan Öniz, an associate professor at Turkey's Akdeniz University who oversaw the expedition to uncover the ship, told CBS News' partner network BBC News.

Alongside the 30 ceramic storage jars in the wreckage, called amphorae, three stone anchors were also discovered.

Öniz told CBS News that when his team…

Original source: https://www.cbsnews.com/entertainment/