A
Bronze Age shipwreck found off of the
coast of southern
Turkey. Excavated in 1984 by project directors
Cemal Pulak and
George F. Bass, the ship
sank sometime during the 14th century BCE. First found by a
diver searching for sponges in June of 1982, this wreck is the
oldest ever found. It was on a steep slope at a
depth of approximately 140 feet, with
objects scattered deeper. The
discovery of the
ship was very useful in determining the
trade routes of the
Mediterranean during the
Bronze Age. The site
excavation yielded one of the largest collections of Bronze Age
artifacts in the
world with nearly 12 tons of cargo. Numerous types of objects were collected.
Raw Materials:
Finished Goods:
- Ceramics: Nine large storage jars, drinking cups, bronze and copper cauldrons and bowls.
- Jewelry: Canaanite bracelets and gold pendants. Also found was a lot of scrap gold and silver among some Egyptian electrum, gold, and silver pieces. Hundreds of beads were found of glass, agate, carnelian, quartz, amber and other materials.
- Tools: Bronze axes, chisels, drills and awls accompanied bronze daggars, swords and arrowheads. Fishhooks, harpoons and nets were also recovered.
The
origins of the ship are difficult to determine. The
cargo on board is good
evidence of the range it travelled. The pottery design is
Canaanite, a culture that existed along the Eastern
Mediterranean coast. The amber found on board was identified as Baltic amber from northern
Europe. The
ivory discovered probably came from the Palestinian coast. There is also remnants of various crew members of
Canaanite,
Cypriot, and
Mycenaean origin.