A 2,400 - year - old shipwreck – the oldest ever discovered intact – has been find oneself on the bottom of the Black Sea after three years of cut - edge mapping of the seabed .
The 23 - metre ( 75 - base ) ancient Greek merchant ’s vas was unwrap double-dyed with its mast , rudders , and row workbench . Incredibly , modern eyes have only pick up this case of ship before as an illustration on the “ Siren Vase ” , a stunningly decorated vase depicting the ship of Odysseus , which is currently in the British Museum .
“ A ship , surviving intact , from the classic world , lie in over 2 kilometers of H2O , is something I would never have believed potential , ” said Professor Jon Adams , Black Sea MAP ’s chief investigator and Founding Director of the University of Southampton ’s Centre for Maritime Archaeology .
“ This will change our understanding of shipbuilding and seafaring in the ancient world . ”
TheBlack Sea Maritime Archaeology Project(Black Sea MAP ) first take in mint of this ancient discovery in 2017 at a deepness of around 2 kilometers ( 1.24 naut mi ) . More late carbon 14 dating has confirmed that the ship date to around 400 BCE . It ’s manage to appease in such good condition for all these years thanks to the Black Sea ’s tiptop - salty anoxic waters which are depleted of fade out oxygen , countenance constitutional matter to remain preserved for centuries .
The Black Sea has long been an important trade road between Europe and Asia , meaning it ’s been a hub of activity for countless civilization and civilizations , include the Greeks , Persians , Scythians , Romans , Goths , Huns , Crusaders , and Ottomans , to name but a few .
Black Sea MAP has mapped over 2,000 square kilometers ( 772 straight feet ) of the ocean using engineering previously only used by energy ship’s company . Over the grade of three years , the squad discovered over 60 shipwrecks , roll from vessels from the Classical period to a 17th - century Cossack raid fleet .
Dr Dragomir Garbov , a nautical archeologist work on the project , explicate that many of the shipwrecks " literally look as if they had sunk yesterday . "
The expansive project is the subject of a new two - hour documentary , premiering tonight at the British Museum , which is hoped to be broadcasted by networks across the universe .
A identification number of Roman shipwrecksfrom around 2,000 class ago have been discovered on the sea bottom off the northerly seashore of Egypt in the harbor city of Alexandria . However , these are nowhere near as well preserved as this discovery .
