Researchers at the Durupınar formation in eastern Turkey have finished this year's field work, and the next step is lab testing. The team says its drilling went down more than 60 feet and did not find a consistent block of solid rock beneath the boat-shaped mound, according to Andrew Jones of the Noah's Ark Research Project. Boulders did turn up in some spots. No one has confirmed the site is Noah's Ark.
As we reported when drilling began, the expedition is led by archaeologist Cenker Atila of Sivas Cumhuriyet University and works under official permits. Researchers say they collected soil samples from inside and outside the formation. Reports differ on how many, from more than 300 to about 1,000. They also report dark, nutrient-rich soil inside the formation and some pottery fragments, whose age has not been determined.
The samples go to laboratories in Ankara this winter. Testing will check organic content and look for signs of decayed wood or human activity. Even if organic levels turn out to be high, researchers would still have to rule out natural causes before calling it evidence of a buried wooden structure.
Skeptics are not convinced. Critics have long said Durupınar is a natural formation shaped by geology. Some expedition members have called the site "man-made," but Jones himself has said the evidence is not definitive, and independent confirmation is still missing.
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