On the discovery of shipwreck traces on the eastern coast of the Caspian Sea
Astafiev A.
31 March 2025Margulan Institute of Archaeology
Kazakhstan Archeology
2025#27Issue 1214 - 237 pp.
The modern decline in the Caspian Sea level exposes a significant section of the shoreline, revealing traces of shipwrecks from antiquity and the early modern period. In the 1990s, a Russian-American expedition discovered the first evidence of the 1722 shipwreck on Kulaly Island. As part of a research project studying maritime trade routes along the eastern Kazakhstani coast of the Caspian Sea, three instances of historical shipwreck remains have been documented. At Cape Sagyndyk, iron rigging and fastenings from a large kusovaya boat dating to the late 18th – early 19th century were found. In the area of the «Warm Beach» city recreation zone, remnants of a cargo from a 14th–15th century merchant vessel carrying copper and tin ingots were discovered. In the bay near Cape Melovoy, fragments of 14th–15th century pottery were collected from the seabed, likely remnants of the cargo of an Iranian trading ship. The study of the shoreline presents a promising avenue for future archaeological field research.
Caspian Sea , copper and tin ingots , Kulaly Island , Lion of Saint Mark , Mangyshlak kusovaya boat , shipwreck , underwater archaeology , «Aktam» type ceramics
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Margulan Institute of Archaeology, Aktau, Kazakhstan
Margulan Institute of Archaeology
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