World’s oldest intact shipwreck discoverd in Black Sea
Archaeologists have found what they believe to be the world’s oldest intact shipwreck at the bottom of the Black Sea where it appears to have lain undisturbed for more than 2,400 years, a media report said on Tuesday.
The 23-metre vessel, thought to be ancient Greek, was discovered with its mast, rudders and rowing benches all present and correct just over a mile below the surface.
A lack of oxygen at that depth preserved it, reports the Guardian.
"A ship surviving intact from the classical world, lying in over 2 km of water, is something I would never have believed possible," said professor Jon Adams, the principal investigator with the Black Sea Maritime Archaeology Project (MAP), the team that made the find.
"This will change our understanding of shipbuilding and seafaring in the ancient world."
The ship is believed to have been a trading vessel of a type that researchers say has only previously been seen "on the side of ancient Greek pottery such as the ‘Siren Vase' in the British Museum".
That work, which dates from about the same period, depicts a similar vessel bearing Odysseus past the sirens, with the Homeric hero lashed to the mast to resist their songs.
The team said they intended to leave the vessel where it was found, but added that a small piece had been carbon dated by the University of Southampton and claimed the results "confirmed (it) as the oldest intact shipwreck known to mankind".
