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By Jordan King
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A team searching for the remains of Noah’s Ark in a boat-shaped formation in Turkey are testing samples from the 515-foot structure to see if any of them are wood, the group’s founder has exclusively told Newsweek.
The international group of archaeologists, geologists and soil scientists started drilling into the famous Durupınar Formation in order to collect its core samples last week, using a Gopher drone, an “underground robot built to go where a person cannot."
Preliminary radar data do not show “a simple homogeneous solid-rock signature,” Andrew Jones, founder of Noah’s Ark Scans, said at the time. His U.S.-based group is working with Bakhtar Research and Engineering LLC, whose scientist, Dr. Khosrow Bakhtar, led the radar survey.
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“We have so far recovered layers of rich organic material that we believe could be the decayed top-tier remains of the Ark,” Jones said last week. “No bedrock or solid limestone has so far been identified in the holes drilled inside the formation. These current findings challenge claims that this is simply a natural shape made of limestone or bedrock.”
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Now, Jones has told Newsweek that they are currently testing these samples.
"We have not identified any material as ancient wood or established its age," because "no laboratory results are in yet,” he said, adding: “In one hole inside the formation, at about 4–5 meters, the drill bit broke on a hard layer.
"We do not yet know what it was. Petrified or heavily mineralized wood is one possibility we want tested; a hard rock block within the surrounding debris is another.
“When I said in our release that these layers could be the decayed top-tier remains of the Ark, I was describing the hypothesis we are testing, not a finding."
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What Noah’s Ark Hunters Hope Finding Wood Will Prove
Noah’s Ark Scans, an independent U.S. research group whose founders believe the remains of Noah’s Ark will be found in the Durupınar Formation, want to prove that samples from the structure are wood to disprove those that believe it is “a completely natural rock formation.”
“If the interior material matches the surrounding earthflow, that supports a natural origin; if it differs in ways the natural setting cannot explain, that would be significant,” Jones told Newsweek.
But he also stressed: “Organic matter also accumulates naturally in soils and slope deposits, and even identifying ancient wood would not by itself establish human construction.”
The findings have not yet undergone independent peer review. “That stage is still ahead,” Jones said.
What Is the Durupınar Formation?
The structure, which has attracted people hoping to find Noah’s Ark since its outline was identified in 1959, lies south of Mount Ararat in eastern Turkey, a region referenced in the biblical account of the Ark. Genesis (8:4) says that, as floodwaters receded, “the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat.”
Its ship-like outline has made it a focus for some searchers of the vessel, including Jones, who said previously: “We believe the Durupınar Formation is the remains of Noah’s Ark, and that is exactly why we want to put it through the strongest scientific testing we can.”
Others disagree – in a 1996 study, geologist Lorence Collins and explorer David Fasold concluded that Durupınar was “a completely natural rock formation,” calling the theory that it contained the ark’s remains “bogus.”
What Happens Next
Jones previously said his team had recovered samples from beneath the Durupınar Formation that had not been identified as bedrock or solid limestone. Those were preliminary field observations; laboratory tests have yet to show what the material is.
“The laboratory work will include organic-content measurements, mineralogy and microscopy, with further tests chosen according to what the initial screening shows,” Jones told Newsweek.
The team will also compare samples from inside the boat-shaped outline with those from control holes outside it.
“The immediate priorities are to complete the laboratory work, compare the interior cores with the control holes, and correlate the physical results with the geophysical interpretations,” Jones added.
Jones has revealed initial laboratory results are expected over the winter. The team aims to produce a more detailed scientific report in spring 2027.
A second field season is planned for 2027, subject to permit approval, but “we are not announcing any plan for large-scale excavation,” he concluded.
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Ben Kelly and Cristina Diciu.
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