Oldest Intact Shipwreck Found in Black Sea

On This Site

Current Events

Share This Page






Follow This Site

Follow SocStudies4Kids on Twitter

October 23, 2018

Archaeologists have disturbed a ship at the bottom of the Black Sea for the first time in more than 2,400 years.

Oldest intact shipwreck

The international team of maritime archaeologists, scientists, and surveyors found more than 60 shipwrecks during their three-year geophysical survey of the lower reaches of the Black Sea. The intact ship was found lying on its side 50 miles off the coast of what is now Bulgaria, 1.3 miles below the surface, and was preserved mainly because of a lack of oxygen at that level.

Siren Vase

The ship is 75 feet long and still has its mast, rudders, and rowing benches, looking very much the kind of ship that is depicted on ancient Greek pottery. One example is the famous Siren Vase, now in the British Museum, which depicts an episode from The Odyssey in which Odysseus is strapped to the side of the ship so as to be able to ignore the tempting call of the sirens.

A small piece of the ship had been carbon dated to 400 B.C., and that is how the archaeologists knew that they had found the oldest intact shipwreck. They have decided to leave the ship at rest.

The University of Southampton's Centre for Maritime Archaeology led the project, known as the Black Sea Maritime Archaeology Project (Black Sea MAP).

Search This Site

Get weekly newsletter

Custom Search

Get weekly newsletter


Social Studies for Kids
copyright 2002–2018
David White

Social Studies for Kids
copyright 2002–2019
David White