Ellen Phiddian
Cosmos science journalist
In 1965, the ancient Greek ship Kyrenia was found off the coast of Cyprus. Laden with almonds, pottery, and coins from antiquity, it has been a rich source of archaeological and historical knowledge.
But just how old is it?
A new study, published in PLOS One, has used updated radiocarbon dating to get a more accurate measure of the ship’s age.
Researchers previously thought it hailed from 300 BCE, but this study suggests the ship is slightly younger, having sunk around 280 BCE.
“Kyrenia was one of the first times it was realised 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,” says lead author Sturt Manning, a professor at Cornell University, US.
“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.”
Radiocarbon dating relies on the degradation of certain carbon atoms in a substance, but changes in atmospheric carbon over time can make it a less accurate measure.
To manage this, researchers calibrate carbon dating with tree ring samples, where they can calculate age more directly.
The researchers developed an updated tree ring dataset for the Northern Hemisphere to provide a more accurate age estimate on Kyrenia.
They also developed a new method to clean off the preservative polyethylene glycol, which was used widely by 20th century curators but interferes with modern dating methods.
The new tree ring dataset will be useful for finding more accurate age estimates on other materials that date between 400-250 BCE.
“This revised curve 400-250 BCE now has relevance to other problems that researchers are working on whether in Europe or China or somewhere else in the northern hemisphere,” says Manning.
“Half of the people who cite the paper in the future will be citing the fact that we’ve revised the radiocarbon calibration curve in this period, and only half will be saying the Kyrenia shipwreck is really important and has a much better date.”
Nevertheless, the more precise date on Kyrenia will yield a more detailed insight into the ship’s story.
“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 globalisation,” says Manning.
“But the discovery of the Kyrenia ship, just under 15 metres long, likely with a crew of 4, 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.”
