A California research collective known as Noah’s Ark Scan says it will begin the first controlled excavation of the Durupınar Site on Mount Ararat’s southern flank once a preservation framework is in place with local universities.
“After securing additional information in cooperation with local universities in Turkey, we will establish a site-preservation plan and confirm whether the structures discovered through radar scans are artificial or natural,” the team told the Korean outlet FN News.
Ground-penetrating radar carried out by the group has revealed what members describe as “a rectangular structure” lying several metres below the surface. The anomalous shape sits inside a flat, oval hill some 160 metres long—almost exactly the length assigned to Noah’s Ark in Genesis.
Soil samples taken during earlier seasons by Turkish and American geologists contained clay, marine sediments and mollusk fragments dated to between 3,500 and 5,000 years ago. Those results, published last year, placed the material in the Copper Age, a horizon some historians link to large flood traditions.
The Durupınar hill first drew attention in May 1948, after earthquakes and torrential rains stripped away overburden. Turkish Army Captain İlhan Durupınar re-examined the site in 1959 while mapping the region for NATO and forwarded his photographs to Ankara, giving the outcrop its current name.
Many geologists who visited in the 1960s called the feature an unusually eroded rock formation, yet the ark hypothesis has persisted. The new project marks the first attempt to open trenches at the locality since systematic sampling began in 2021.
Mount Ararat, a dormant volcano topping 5,137 m, dominates a border zone shared by Turkey, Iran and Armenia. A small visitor centre stands a few hundred metres from the site, but guides advise foreign travellers to use caution in the politically sensitive area.
Excavation permits are still pending. Noah’s Ark Scan says fieldwork will not begin until protective measures are agreed with Turkish authorities and regional universities.
The article was written with the assistance of a news analysis system.