Minoan shipwreck found off Turkish coast

Turkish researchers have discovered a 4,000 year-old shipwreck in Marmaris Hisaronu Gulf opposite the Greek islands of Rhodes and Kos in the eastern Aegean, as part of an ongoing project carried out by Dokuz Eylül University's Marine Sciences Institute since 2007.

Archaeologists have discovered a 4,000 year-old shipwreck off the Turkish coast, probably 
of the Minoan Civilisation [Credit: AA]

Professor Abdurrahman Harun Özdaş, from Dokuz Eylül University said that the 4,000 year-old shipwreck is the oldest of its kind to be found in Turkey.

He said that the shipwreck was found as part of the 'Research on Turkey's Underwater Heritage' project, which has been launched in 2007.

Last year the project has received 70,000 Turkish liras in funds and aims to make an inventory for shipwrecks in Turkey's territorial waters.

Researchers believe the wreck was a Minoan ship used for trade that sunk during a trip to 
Hisaronu Gulf from Crete via Rhodes and Bozburun [Credit: AA]

"We come up with maps based on such shipwrecks, where they dropped their anchors, as well as objects which fell off from ships" Özdaş said, and noted that they refer to this as the 'underwater geographic information system of Turkey.'

The shipwreck was found at a depth of 40 metres and is thought to be that of a Minoan merchant vessel, though no details have been released as to its likely date.

It is reported that the ship is thought to have capsized during a trip to Hisaronu Gulf from Crete via Rhodes and Bozburun (near ancient Halikarnassos) on the southwestern Turkish coast.

Part of the project's aim has been to provide a record of shipwrecks in Turkey's 
territorial waters [Credit: AA]

It was also reported that the project found over 20 submerged harbours and architectural remains, 25 berthages and over 400 anchors dating from the Bronze Age to the Ottoman period.

Source: Daily Sabah [January 30, 2016]