• News
    • Tech News
    • AI
  • Gadgets
    • Apple
    • iPhone
  • Gaming
    • Playstation
    • Xbox
  • Science
    • News
    • Space
  • Streaming
    • Netflix
  • Vehicles
    • Car News
  • Social Media
    • WhatsApp
    • YouTube
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • LADbible
  • UNILAD
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
TikTok
Snapchat
WhatsApp
Submit Your Content
2,400-year-old vessel found perfectly preserved at the bottom of the Black Sea thought to be world’s oldest shipwreck

Home> Science

Published 12:03 8 May 2024 GMT+1

2,400-year-old vessel found perfectly preserved at the bottom of the Black Sea thought to be world’s oldest shipwreck

The low oxygen levels have preserved the shipwreck.

Rebekah Jordan

Rebekah Jordan

To find the world's oldest anything, you wouldn't expect to find it in one full piece.

But one ship has proved otherwise.

A Greek trading ship, dating back to 400 BC, has been discovered off the Bulgarian coast, making it the world's oldest known ship.

The 75 ft vessel was discovered by a team of researchers at the Black Sea Maritime Archaeology Project (Black Sea MAP).

Advert

It was part of their three-year-long survey of the seabed to study prehistoric sea level changes.

Using advanced mapping technology, the team identified 65 shipwrecks across more than 2,000 square kilometres of seabed.

A researcher on the expedition, Helen Farr reported: 'It’s like another world.

'It’s when the ROV [remotely operated vehicle] drops down through the water column and you see this ship appear in the light at the bottom so perfectly preserved it feels like you step back in time.'

Advert

Expedition and Education Foundation/Black Sea MAP
Expedition and Education Foundation/Black Sea MAP

Despite lying 1.25 miles below the surface for thousands of years, the ship still retains its rudder, rowing benches and even the contents of its hold (which remain unknown for now).

How is this possible?

It's all about oxygen levels.

Advert

If you've ever been scuba diving, you know that the deeper you go, the less oxygen there is.

In this low-oxygen environment, organic materials like wood and cargo can be preserved for thousands of years.

'A ship surviving intact from the classical world, lying in over 2km of water, is something that I would have never believed possible,' said Professor Jon Adams, the principal investigator with the project.

'This will change our understanding of shipbuilding and seafaring in the ancient world.'

Advert

mikroman6/Getty
mikroman6/Getty

The team plans to let the ship rest undisturbed at its final site but took a small sample to accurately carbon-date its age.

'It's preserved, it's safe,' Farr added.

'It's not deteriorating and it's unlikely to attract hunters.'

Advert

Though this is the oldest intact shipwreck, it's just one of many prehistoric relics the team has discovered at the bottom of the Black Sea.

One of which includes a '17th century Cossack raiding fleet, through Roman trading vessels, complete with amphorae, to a complete ship from the classical period.'

The research team said more funding would be needed if they were to return to the site.

'As archaeologists, we're interested in what it can tell us about technology, trade and movements in the area,' Farr concluded.

Featured Image Credit: Expedition and Education Foundation/Black Sea MAP / mikroman6/Getty
Science

Advert

Advert

Advert

Choose your content:

a day ago
2 days ago
3 days ago
  • Bill Turnbull/NY Daily News Archive via Getty ImagesBill Turnbull/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images
    a day ago

    Experts reveal heartbreaking reason thousands of victims of 9/11 have still not been identified

    Almost half of the remains are still not identified to this day

    Science
  • NASA video / YouTubeNASA video / YouTube
    2 days ago

    NASA confirms Mars rover has discovered the strongest evidence of 'ancient life' yet

    Could this be aliens?

    Science
  • leoimage / Gettyleoimage / Getty
    3 days ago

    NASA is taking submissions to fly your name around the Moon

    Does that technically make us all astronauts?

    Science
  • Andrew Harnik / Staff via GettyAndrew Harnik / Staff via Getty
    3 days ago

    RFK Jr. axes scientists' promising research into universal cancer vaccine

    The mRNA tech would've been a huge breakthrough for millions of patients

    Science
  • Scientists amazed after discovering saber-toothed cub almost perfectly preserved 32,000 years later
  • Record-breaking world’s oldest baby has been born
  • Scientists make unsettling discovery at the bottom of the Red Sea that will help aid space exploration
  • Scientists just found the speed limit for human thought and you'll be surprised by the number