Part of the rugged coast of southwestern Turkey, famous for the underwater excavation of a very early ship, wrecked off this coast in the late Bronze Age (13th century bc). The small merchant ship was carrying a cargo of copper and bronze ingots, still wrapped in basketry. The presence of tin oxide suggests that the merchant himself may have been involved in the manufacture of bronze. Half a tonne of bronze ingots, some lettered, was removed from the wreck by the archaeologists. The excavation also produced a structural plan of the ship, including evidence of a grill of twigs on the bows to keep water off the deck — a technique still in use today. As well as the ingots, finds included pottery and three scarabs, one of which was of faience and another of ivory.
The Macmillan dictionary of archaeology, Ruth D. Whitehouse, 1983Copied