18 July 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

In the Black Sea, there is a “Ship Graveyard” with 2,500 years of wrecked ships

The Black Sea is the inland sea lying between Europe and Asia. Blacksea is located in Eurasia, surrounded by Europe, Caucasus, and Anatolia. The countries that share a border with the Black Sea include Romania, Turkey, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Russia, and Georgia.

The Black Sea connects with the Mediterranean Sea through the Bosporus Strait, and then through the Sea of Marmara and the Dardanelles Strait. The Black sea also links with the Aegean Sea and the Sea of Crete before meeting the Mediterranean.

The Black Sea has been popular not just because its name denotes a rather inhospitable nature, but also due to a number of features that are surprisingly unusual.

The Black Sea has long been important to the powerful empires which have occupied the region. Its fascinating history has only grown as a team of marine archaeologists has unearthed remnants of these powerful states—a collection of about sixty well-preserved shipwrecks spanning 2,500 years of world history.

The stern of an Ottoman shipwreck discovered under 900 feet of water. (Photo: Black Sea MAP/University of Southampton)
The stern of an Ottoman shipwreck was discovered under 900 feet of water. (Photo: Black Sea MAP/University of Southampton)

Researchers from the University of Southampton’s Center for Maritime Archaeology discovered the “ship graveyard” some years ago as part of their Black Sea MAP project, which was supported by the Expedition and Education Foundation.

The researchers are studying changes in water levels and the effects on ancient humans in the area. Discovering the wrecked vessels was incidental to their main mission.

MAP collaborated with the Bulgarian Institute of Archaeology and the Bulgarian Centre for Underwater Archaeology to continue their research in Bulgarian waters.

The sixty or so wrecks span about two millennia, from Roman to Ottoman.

The wrecks were examined using remote-controlled vehicles (ROVs). Each ROV takes pictures that are subsequently used to build 3D photogrammetry (a sort of visual reconstruction) and video. The attention to detail is astounding, with images of like masts, bows, and engraved decorative wood. The crews investigated roughly 60 wrecks and uncovered Roman, Byzantine, and Ottoman boats.

How have these wrecks survived in such good condition? The answer to their incredible preservation lies in the chemistry of the Black Sea. At about 500 feet deep, the water becomes anoxic or deficient in oxygen. It is also very low light. This is not conducive to the sort of sea life which would normally feed on sunken wood ships. As a result, the intricate carvings of the boats are almost as distinct as the day they descended from the air above.

The Black Sea MAP is sharing its incredible discoveries with the rest of the globe. Involving “advisory” schoolchildren in the research, the team has created educational resources for children and teens While the site of the shipwrecks is kept hidden to safeguard them, a film team has chronicled the last several years’ exploring activities. These revelations will be coming to your television soon, so stay tuned on Black Sea MAP’s website for more information.

Related Articles

The Americas’ oldest known bead discovered near Douglas, Wyoming

9 March 2024

9 March 2024

Archaeologists have discovered the oldest known bead in the Americas at the La Prele Mammoth site in Converse County, United...

2,000 Bronze Statue Fragments Found in Ancient Scrap Yard

20 January 2025

20 January 2025

Archaeologists in Izmir, Turkey have made an extraordinary discovery in the ancient city of Metropolis: Approximately 2,000 bronze statue fragments...

The Bronze Sacred Sanxingdui Tree Number 3 is Being Restored

9 April 2021

9 April 2021

According to the announcement of the Sanxingdui Museum, archaeologists have begun to assemble and restore the No. 3 bronze sacred...

Secrets of the Galloway Hoard Revealed

27 May 2021

27 May 2021

Experts have uncovered fascinating secrets of a Viking Age hoard discovered by a metal detector to be presented to the...

Earliest evidence of forest management discovered at the La Draga Neolithic site in Spain

19 July 2023

19 July 2023

Archaeologists have discovered the earliest evidence of forest management at the La Draga Neolithic site in northeastern Spain. A scientific...

A spectacular rare ancient Roman bronze coin depicting the moon goddess was discovered off the coast of Israel

25 July 2022

25 July 2022

A rare 1850-year-old exceptionally well-preserved bronze coin depicting the Roman moon goddess Luna has been found off the coast of...

Archaeologists unearth 128 ancient urn burial tombs for children in north China

22 November 2021

22 November 2021

Archaeologists have uncovered urn burial chambers containing the remains of 128 infants among the ruins of an ancient city of...

New Study Finds, 4,000-Year-Old Toolkit Unearthed Near Stonehenge Was Used to Work Gold

16 December 2022

16 December 2022

Archaeologists from the Universities of Leicester and Southampton in the United Kingdom recently published a study claiming that enigmatic artifacts...

700 Years After Dante’s Death, His Handwritten Notes Are Discovered

11 July 2021

11 July 2021

Dante Alighieri, an Italian poet, and scholar are best known for his masterwork La Commedia (also known as The Divine...

Archaeologists have discovered sandstone blocks belonging to a pharaoh’s temple covered with hieroglyphs in Sudan

2 March 2023

2 March 2023

Polish archaeologists have discovered sandstone blocks belonging to a pharaoh’s temple covered with hieroglyphs during excavations at Old Dongola in...

The first settlement of the Cimmerians in Anatolia may be Büklükale

7 June 2022

7 June 2022

Archaeologists estimated that the first settlement in Anatolia of the Cimmerians, who left Southern Ukraine before Christ (about 8th century...

A Large Roman Pottery Production Center was Found in Poland

2 April 2021

2 April 2021

A large Roman pottery production center was found in Poland. The production center was discovered near the village of Wrzepia,...

Sensational find in Ephesus: more than 1,400-year-old district discovered

29 October 2022

29 October 2022

During this year’s excavations at Ephesus in Turkey, archaeologists from the Austrian Academy of Sciences (AW) discovered an incredibly well-preserved...

Archaeologists found a medieval skeleton with a prosthetic hand in Freising, Germany

28 October 2023

28 October 2023

Archaeologists in the city of Freising in Bavaria, Germany, unearthed containing a skeleton with a prosthetic hand. The metal part...

4000-year-old Temple With A 2.30 Meters Central Monolith Discovered in Cyprus

9 July 2024

9 July 2024

An Italian archaeological mission, the Erimi Archaeological Project of the University of Siena, discovered a 4,000-year-old temple in Cyprus. This...