Fish skeletons dating back to more than 2,000 years ago discovered in ancient city of Patara
Fish skeletons dating back to more than 2,000 years ago have been discovered in Turkey's Mediterranean coast during recent excavations in the ancient city of Patara.
- Turkey
- Published Date: 05:49 | 28 July 2021
- Modified Date: 05:51 | 28 July 2021
The excavations led by Erkan Dündar, an archeology professor at Akdeniz University, have been carried out in the Kaş district of Antalya, a Mediterranean resort city of Turkey.
The team unearthed leftovers of animal bones and seashells when they were digging in the Tepecik area. Skeletons belonging to sea bream, sea bass and other fishes are currently being examined.
Fish skeletons have been found to be dating back 2,300 years ago.
Havva Iskan Işık, head the Patara excavation team, said on Twitter on Wednesday that locals of Patara ate tuna fish and sea bream in the third century B.C.
Meanwhile, the excavations also found remains of purple dye from the sea snail, which is about to become extinct in the Mediterranean Sea.