Noah's Ark mystery enters new phase as researchers probe deep beneath site

Researchers investigating the site believed by some to be Noah's Ark have just wrapped up their first full field season — drilling more than 60 feet beneath the site and collecting hundreds of samples now undergoing laboratory analysis.

The Noah's Ark Research Project, supported by Ağrı İbrahim Çeçen University, has spent the last year collecting soil samples at the Durupınar site near Mount Ararat in eastern Turkey.

First identified in 1959, the boat-shaped formation has long-drawn speculation over a possible connection to Noah's Ark, though geologists have argued it is a natural formation.

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In a 1996 paper, geologists Lorence Gene Collins and David Franklin Fasold rejected claims that the formation was Noah's Ark, concluding instead that it was "a natural rock structure."

But in the decades since, researchers have continued investigating the site, with a university-backed project now using deep-core drilling and other methods to probe beneath the formation.

During the latest field season, researchers collected over 300 soil samples from varying depths inside and outside the formation, Noah's Ark Research Project vice president Andrew Jones told Fox News Digital.

The team also used deep-core drilling at the site for the first time, reaching depths of 20 meters, or more than 60 feet, in some locations — and obtaining samples from within the formation that were sent for lab analysis.

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"That's what we'll be testing this winter," Jones said. "Just to see if we can find any type of man-made activity or something that suggests decayed wood."

The researchers hope the analysis will help determine whether there are signs of human activity or materials consistent with decayed wood beneath the formation.

Jones said the decision to drill deeper followed earlier sampling in 2024 that showed differences between soil collected inside and outside the formation. 

Those samples, he said, contained three times more organic matter inside the site, along with 38% more potassium and differences in pH.

"Near [the] surface, we're seeing a difference in the soil," Jones said of the earlier results. "Let's go deeper this year and see what we can find."

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Any such evidence could be significant for the research team, which is investigating whether the boat-shaped formation could contain the remains of a man-made structure.

Jones said the team believes its drilling results raise questions about some previous explanations of the site as a natural rock formation.

"When we drilled into the formation this year for the first time, we did not encounter any solid block of rock, of limestone, [or] of any type of a rock," Jones said. "We were hitting mainly soil."

Although the team encountered boulders in some locations, Jones said researchers did not find a consistent, solid block of rock beneath the formation.

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"We’re still studying our results, but we believe that this should give [skeptics] pause when they say this is a rock formation," Jones said.

Ancient pottery discovered near the formation has also fueled renewed interest in the site, with some recent reports linking the fragments to the Noah's Ark theory. Jones, however, clarified that the pottery was found beside the formation, not within it.

The pottery had been tentatively dated by its style from the early Chalcolithic, or Copper Age, through the Iron Age, he added.

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Jones said there are two ancient settlements near the formation and suggested their proximity could be significant if the site were ultimately connected to Noah’s Ark.

"You can connect the dots," Jones said, though he noted that the nearby settlement has not been excavated. "If this is Noah’s Ark, we have people living right beside it early on."

Jones, who identified himself as a Christian, said he believes in the biblical story but cautioned that the team still has "a lot of work to do." He urged people not to jump to conclusions.

He also said he understood why some remained skeptical of the project.

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"I can understand because I have friends who are atheists or agnostic, and they think that I’m looking for Santa’s house or something," he said.

The expert stressed that the team's field work was complete but that laboratory analysis was still underway before broader conclusions could be drawn.

"We still have the lab work to do," Jones said. "And I hope everyone can follow along and see what we find."