Kekova Shipwreck Enters Guinness Records as World’s Oldest
Archaeologist says the 4,700-year-old Antalya wreck is now officially listed by Guinness.
The Kekova shipwreck off Antalya has been listed by Guinness World Records as the world’s oldest shipwreck, according to the archaeologist leading the excavation. Doç. Dr. Hakan Öniz, head of the Conservation and Repair of Cultural Property department at Akdeniz University’s Faculty of Fine Arts, told Anadolu Agency (AA) that the title was officially announced this week.
The wreck lies near Kekova Island and holds amphorae (two-handled storage jars) about 4,700 years old. Türkiye’s Culture and Tourism Minister, Mehmet Nuri Ersoy, announced the find on 14 October 2026.
How the Kekova shipwreck was identified
Öniz’s team has worked underwater near Kekova since 2024 on behalf of the Culture and Tourism Ministry. After coastal and surface surveys, they concluded that objects on the seabed belonged to a wreck. Further dives, carried out with ministry permission, brought up material for scientific study.
The first assumption was very different. Öniz said the team initially thought the wreck was Ottoman, perhaps 100 to 400 years old. Most of their other projects involve wrecks of roughly 2,000 to 2,500 years.
The turning point came last year. While preparing publications, the researchers found close parallels to the amphorae in Egypt. They returned to the site with permission and concluded that the vessel dates to the Early Bronze Age. Öniz described it as a ship nearly 5,000 years old, lying at a depth of 35 to 40 metres.
What happens to the amphorae next
The recovered finds are being processed in the team’s regional laboratory and at Akdeniz University’s underwater archaeology laboratory in Kemer. Öniz said some pieces will go on show in the coming months at “Dört Deniz Bir Müze” (Four Seas One Museum), which has been completed at Haydarpaşa in Istanbul.
Other objects are expected to go to the Mediterranean Underwater Archaeology Museum in Kemer, Antalya. Its construction is close to finished, according to Öniz.
Why the record matters for Türkiye’s heritage story
Öniz called the global attention a source of pride. He said Türkiye ranks among the leading countries in underwater archaeology, and that he would place it among the top two or three. He cited the country’s infrastructure, its specialists and what he called the world’s richest coastline for such work.
For readers of Anatolian history, the find is a reminder that the Mediterranean coast holds far older layers than the Seljuk and Ottoman periods. Our readers know that coast from the Seljuk-era sites around Alanya. The Kekova wreck predates them by thousands of years.
Details of the Guinness entry itself, such as the exact wording of the record, were not given in the AA report. The dating of the wreck comes from the research team’s analysis of the amphorae and their comparison with Egyptian finds.
Source: TRT Haber (Anadolu Agency)
Featured image: Bjørn Christian Tørrissen / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
