Discovery Reveals Secrets of the Famed Greek Kyrenia Shipwreck

A new study published on Wednesday gives a more accurate time estimate of the famed Kyrenia shipwreck discovered off the north coast of Cyprus nearly 60 years ago.

Published in the journal PLOS One the study says the ship likely went down earlier than scientists once thought, between 296 to 271 BC, with a strong probability that the ship foundered somewhere between 286 to 272 BC.

The revelation came together thanks to newly cleaned wood samples from the ship, as well as clues provided by a twig, an animal bone and a cache of ancient almonds.

Kyrenia shipwreck found with a largely intact hull

The Kyrenia has a storied legacy as the first major Greek Hellenistic-period ship to be found, in 1965, with a largely intact hull. From 1967-69, it was excavated along with its cargo, which included hundreds of ceramic vessels, then reassembled offsite and scientifically studied.

“Kyrenia was one of the first times it was realized this type of rich evidence from the classical world could be found largely intact more than 2,000 years later on the seabed, if you could find it,” said Stuart Manning, the lead author and Professor in Classical Archaeology at Cornell University.

“It was a bit of a landmark moment, the idea that you actually could dive, excavate, and bring up a classical-era ship and so discover this long-past world directly. Shipwrecks are unique time capsules, and you can get amazing preservation.”

For the last six decades, the Kyrenia has provided archeologists and historians with key insights into the development of ancient ship technology, construction practices, and maritime trade.

To date, no fewer than three Kyrenia replicas have been produced and launched, and these reconstructions have yielded considerable information on ancient ships and their sailing performance.

Discovering the timeline of Kyrenia’s sinking off Cyprus

However, the timeline of the Kyrenia’s provenance and the exact date of its sinking has always been vague at best. The initial efforts to date the ship were based on its recovered artifacts, such as the pottery on board and a small batch of coins, which initially led researchers to estimate the ship was built and sank in the later 300s BCE.

“Classical texts and finds at port sites already told us this era was significant for widespread maritime trade and connections all around the Mediterranean – an early period of globalization,” Manning said.

“But the discovery of the Kyrenia ship, just under 15 meters long, likely with a crew of four, dramatically made this all very immediate and real. It yielded key insights into the practicalities of the earlier part of a millennium of intense maritime activity in the Mediterranean, from Greek through Late Antique times.”

Biggest hurdle

The biggest hurdle for accurately dating the Kyrenia was polyethylene glycol (PEG). Excavators and preservationists often applied the petroleum-based compound to waterlogged wood to prevent it from decomposing after it was lifted out of the ocean’s oxygen-free environment.

“We removed the PEG from the wood, we radiocarbon dated it and we showed that in each case, we got a radiocarbon age consistent with the real (known) age,” Manning said. “We basically got 99.9% of the PEG removed.”

The dates showed that the most recent preserved tree rings from these timbers grew in the mid-later 4th century BC. Because the samples did not include bark, the researchers couldn’t determine the exact date the original trees were felled, but could say the date was likely after approximately 355-291 BC.

Working with the Kyrenia’s original excavation team, the researchers examined its various artifacts, including the pottery and coins, with a focus on organic materials, including an astragalus (a sheep or goat ankle bone once used for games and divining rituals in several ancient cultures) and thousands of fresh green almonds found in some of the large amphorae, i.e., ceramic jars. These “short-lived” sample materials helped define the date of the ship’s last voyage.

The team applied combined statistical modeling with the dendrochronology of the wood samples to get a level of dating that was much more precise than previous efforts.

The modeling identified the most likely range of dates for the final voyage to be between 305-271 BC (95.4 percent probability) and 286-272 BC (68.3 percent probability) – several years more recent than current estimations.

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