A Bronze Age Shipwreck at Ulu Burun (Kaş): 1984 Campaign

Excavation of a Late Bronze Age shipwreck, tentatively dated to the 14th century B. C., was begun by the Institute of Nautical Archaeology at Ulu Burun near Kaş, Turkey, in 1984. The ship carried a large cargo of raw goods: copper and tin ingots in the so-called "oxhide" shape, round glass ingots, unworked elephant and hippopotamus ivory, figs (or a fig product), myrrh or frankincense, orpiment, and probably olive oil and wine. Manufactured cargo comprised Cypriot pottery; it is not yet known if Mycenaean and Syro-Palestinian pottery on board was cargo or for shipboard use. The wreck also yielded gold and silver jewelry of Canaanite types, a Mycenaean seal, bronze tools and weapons, haematite weights, stone artifacts, and beads of glass, faience and amber. More than half a dozen stone anchors were carried. Hull construction is similar to that of later Graeco-Roman ships. Comparison of artifacts from the Ulu Burun wreck with those from land sites suggests that the ship was sailing from east to west.