A Turkish research crew has sent hundreds of soil specimens from a site near Mount Ararat to a laboratory after a year of drilling at the Durupinar formation that some view as Noah’s Ark. Certain geologists maintain the outline is a natural landform rather than a vessel.

Project vice president Andrew Jones said the group employed deep drilling for the first time, reaching beyond 60 feet, and will examine the cores this winter for signs of human construction or rotting timber after earlier tests revealed soil variations.

Ken Ham of Answers in Genesis and Kentucky’s Ark Encounter advised caution toward discovery claims by Noah’s Ark Scans, noting that overstated evidence can harm Christian credibility and that new findings deserve careful review because sound science invites thorough checks. No conclusive proof of the ark has been established.