In Mersin's Silifke district, southern Türkiye, off the coast of Dana Island, associate professor Hakan Öniz discovered the world's largest and oldest shipyard in 2015 dating back to the Bronze Age. The site has since revealed new findings of 294 slipways to date.

Öniz, the head of the Underwater Cultural Heritage Conservation and Restoration Department at Akdeniz University (AU) and the director of the Kemer Underwater Archaeology Research and Application Center, stated that new discoveries continue to be made on the island.

Noting that the shipyard could build 300 ships simultaneously, he also pointed to new findings indicating that smaller boats and dinghies were constructed behind where the larger ships were produced. Öniz's findings were also published as an article in an international scientific journal.

100 slipways in 1st discovery

Öniz stated that during a study on diving bans on the Silifke coasts in 2015, they found about 100 slipways on Dana Island.

He explained that these ramps are easily accessible from the sea and were used for either constructing new ships or for the maintenance of ships. Finding 100 ramps from archaeological periods is quite remarkable, he noted, adding: "We were very excited when we found them. We immediately reported it to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. In 2016, with the permits from our ministry, we started working on these 100 ramps on Dana Island again, and in the years 2016-2017, we identified a total of 294 ship ramps in our studies. Having 294 ship ramps means being able to build 294 ships simultaneously, and we know that in ancient times, it took about six months to build a ship."

"So, in this context, the construction of 500-600 warships within a year was significant enough to change all balances in the Mediterranean," he added.

Shipyard that changed history

"A magnificent shipyard has been revealed that is large enough to produce about 300 ships and includes not only slipways but also workshops, worship areas, security towers, a fortress structure and many other archaeological infrastructure. Such a shipyard reveals something that changed history in the Mediterranean about 2,500-3,000 years ago, marking significant milestones in maritime history," Öniz explained.

"For instance, in the fifth century B.C., the Battle of Salamis took place, which is depicted in many Hollywood films like the '300 Spartans.' These battles, involving the Persian navy against the Athenian or Greek navies, occurred off the coast of Athens near Piraeus. We know that the Persians were a land-based society. In this context, the Cilicians were a society of seafarers because they had no other choice."

"The Cilician region was mountainous, extending from Alanya to the coast of Mezitli in Mersin, and was characterized by limited arable land, mainly suitable for mining and perhaps some animal husbandry, but not for agriculture. Therefore, they relied on sea routes for transportation. They were excellent seafarers. We know that the Cilicians excelled in seamanship because they had no other option," he added.

"The Cilicians mobilized the Persians in the fifth century B.C., and most of the Persian ships were built along the Cilician coast. We believe that the shipyard where we have documented 300 ships in Cilicia today is the same shipyard where a large part of the Persian ships were built. Furthermore, we believe that the ships of Antony and Cleopatra were also built in this region," the professor noted.

Öniz also said the famous Gen. Antigonus's shipyard was in this area during the Hellenistic period and that many ships built on Dana Island were used in naval battles during this period. He further explained that famous Cilician pirates also held a strong influence in the area.

"In the first century B.C., approximately 1,000 ships of Cilician pirates raided 500 settlements in Greece, and they even challenged the Roman Empire for a period. We can say that the majority of the ships of these Cilician pirates were built on Dana Island. We have archaeological evidence for this.

"In our recently published article, we discussed that besides the large ships, there is evidence that the smaller boats and dinghies behind these ships were also constructed in a special design at another location behind the ships," he said.

Noting that their research on Dana Island extends back to the Paleolithic period, the expert explained: "We found stone tools that we know were used in the 8000-10,000 B.C. era on Dana Island. Of course, during that time, Dana Island was not a shipyard. We probably found stone tools used by people transitioning from a new hunter-gatherer society to an agricultural society."

"However, especially from the Late Bronze Age onward, archaeological evidence shows that Dana Island was used as a shipyard. In this context, Dana Island demonstrates to us that it is the world's largest and oldest untouched, pristine shipyard," he added.

Mentioning that cedar trees from the Taurus Mountains, located just opposite Dana Island, were used in shipbuilding, he said: "Cedar trees for this shipyard are just one to two hours away, so there are no raw material problems. We know that the shipyard is in a secure harbor area. Along a continuous 1.5-kilometer (0.93-mile) stretch, there are about 300 slipways side by side. The most important aspect of this is the availability of raw materials. Ships can easily dock from the sea without any problems. It's secure; enemy forces cannot easily attack the shipyard on the island."

"That's why it is recorded that in the seventh and sixth centuries B.C., the Assyrians attacked Dana Island, as mentioned in the emperor's memoirs. He says, 'There is Dana Island rising like a mountain in the middle of the sea. Thousands of people resisted us there.' Thousands of people can live on Dana Island. At the time, they were mainly soldiers, carpenters and other workers of the shipyard," he added.