TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
World's oldest intact shipwreck found in Black Sea
An ancient Greek trading ship dating back more than 2,400 years has been found virtually intact at the bottom of the Black Sea.
Change Size
An undated handout picture released by Black Sea MAP/EEF Expeditions in London on October 23, 2018, shows the remains of an ancient Greek trading ship laying on the sea bed at the bottom of the Black Sea near Bulgaira. (HO/Black Sea MAP/EEF Expeditions/AFP/-)
A
n ancient Greek trading ship dating back more than 2,400 years has been found virtually intact at the bottom of the Black Sea, researchers said on Tuesday.
The vessel is one of more than 60 shipwrecks identified by the Black Sea Maritime Archaeology Project including Roman ships and a 17th-century Cossack raiding fleet.
During the three-year project, researchers used specialist remote deep-water camera systems previously used in offshore oil and gas exploration to map the sea floor.
"A small piece of the vessel has been carbon dated and it is confirmed as the oldest intact shipwreck known to mankind," the project said in a statement.
Read also: 'Made in China' label sheds light on old Java Sea shipwreck
The ship, which is lying on its side with its mast and rudders intact, was dated back to 400 BC -- a time when the Black Sea was a trading hub filled with Greek colonies.
The water at that depth is oxygen-free, meaning that organic material can be preserved for thousands of years.
"A ship, surviving intact, from the Classical world, lying in over 2 kilometer of water, is something I would never have believed possible," said Professor Jon Adams from the University of Southampton in southern England, the project's main investigator.
"This will change our understanding of shipbuilding and seafaring in the ancient world," he said.
