Saving underwater relics

From English News: Saving underwater relics

BEIJING, May 25 -- Chinese underwater archaeologists hope to make their ongoing efforts to salvage the sunken ship Nan'ao-1 off the coast of Guangdong province an exemplar for other underwater projects.

A total of 20 archaeologists have been working on the centuries-old shipwreck since early April, making it the biggest in-situ underwater archaeological excavation in China since the establishment of its first underwater archaeological team in 1987.

They hope to recover the ship's full load of over 10,000 pieces of antique porcelain by the end of July before the monsoon season arrives.

Over the past weeks, the excavation team has demonstrated great teamwork, with a clear division of work, according to Cui Yong, executive leader of the recovery team.

Each night, the team meets to discuss plans for the next day's operations, based on reports of weather conditions and tidal movements.

So far the team has recovered more than 2,000 artifacts from the sunken vessel.

The progress has been slower than expected thanks to many days when strong winds have led to waves rising 1.5 meters, says Cui.

"Both water temperature and weather have been less cooperative than expected," Cui says. "But this is exactly what defines underwater archaeological excavation - its vulnerability to weather conditions, to tidal movements and to the dynamic environment of the sea bed."

He is confident of greater progress in the coming month with more agreeable weather.

He believes this excavation effort, like that on the Nanhai-1, will serve as valuable experience for future excavations of more ancient shipwrecks in the South China Sea, whose number is estimated at around 2,000.

Nanhai-1 is believed to be the first ancient vessel discovered on the "Marine Silk Road" of the South China Sea, spurring China to preserve its underwater cultural relics lying along the ancient maritime trade routes.

As one of the oldest and largest medieval vessels sailing on the trade route, Nanhai-1 was found off the coast of Yangjiang in Guangdong in 1987.

The Underwater Archaeology Research Center of China (UARCC) was established and the country's first underwater archeology team soon followed in an attempt to prevent Nanhai-1 from becoming another Chinese ancient shipwreck falling into the hands of foreign treasure hunters.

By 2001, China's underwater archaeological team had 40 members, making it possible to resume full excavation of Nanhai-1.

In December 2007, the UARCC had to lift Nanhai-1 out of water because the sea in which it had sunk was too dark for divers to see and recover the artifacts. The ship today sits in a museum in Guangdong.

It was when UARCC was busy preparing to pull out Nanhai-1 that divers found Nan'ao-1, Cui says.

Unlike Nanhai-1, Nan'ao-1 is located in waters shallow enough to allow archaeologists to lift its wreckage directly from the seabed in the daylight.

The in-situ salvage effort on Nan'ao-1 is turning out to be as challenging as lifting Nanhai-1 out of the water entirely, says Cui.

(Source: China Daily)

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Deep secrets uncovered

BEIJING, May 25 -- The in-situ excavation of the wreck of a 400-year-old merchant ship is causing great excitement among marine archeologists.

Accidentally discovered by local fishermen off the coast near Nan'ao Island of Shantou in Guangdong province three years ago, Nan'ao-1 is the best preserved ancient merchant vessel ever found on the historic maritime trade route linking southern China with Europe as well as Africa and Southeast Asia. Salvage of the ancient shipwreck and its cargo of over 10,000 pieces of blue-and-white porcelain from the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), began on April 9

Since then each dive has become a breathtaking experience for the salvage team, yielding more and more answers about the ship and its final voyage.

In response to the public's growing curiosity, experts have developed some postulates, based on the nearly 2,000 artifacts that have been retrieved. They believe that the ship was probably bound for Asian countries and was probably flouting bans on foreign trade at that time.

Most of the artifacts that have been recovered are porcelain pieces, including wine cups, plates, jars and vases, and are mainly from Zhangzhou in Fujian province, whose history as a center of porcelain manufacture dates back to more than 500 years.

Experts believe that some big bowls found in the vessel were probably made for foreign trade because they were not commonly used in daily life in China at that time.

Since many of the relics already recovered bear Chinese characters, experts also conclude the destination of Nan'ao-1 was probably an Asian country which was influenced by Chinese culture.

"The patterns of these relics reflect Confucian culture," says Chen Huasha, researcher of Palace Museum who has been studying the recovered relics. "Therefore, the Nao'ao-1 was most likely heading for places influenced by Confucian Philosophy, such as Japan, the Korean Peninsula and other countries in Southeast Asia."

Experts also found the fact that most of the porcelain on the vessel was made during Ming Dynasty Emperor Wanli's reign (1573-1620), of particular interest as the administration of Wanli had imposed a ban on sea trade.

The Ming Dynasty restricted private sea trade to deter piracy, which had imposed huge hardships on legitimate sea traders, and ensure maritime security along Chinese coastal areas.

This means the Nan'ao-1 was probably flouting bans on foreign trade at the time, says Sun Jian, head of the salvage team.

Sheet copper and coins found during the salvage operation also indicate that the ship might have been smuggling copper too, Sun says.

Many ancient Chinese dynasties, including the Ming Dynasty, banned the export of copper, as the metal was precious and used to manufacture coins, a major currency, in ancient China, according to Sun.

Aside from the blue-and-white porcelain plates, archeologists have discovered an item, which looks like a ring, or an earring, as well as a batch of circular copper ingots.

Some experts believe that the porcelain artifacts might be ballast, as it was common to carry inferior products to balance the ship and make it steadier, in which case more valuable relics may be found as the operation continues.

Experts hope to tell the reasons behind the ship's sinking as the excavation continues, gradually revealing the overall structure of the ship.

Jiang Bo, an expert from the Institute of Archaeology under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, says the ship might have encountered extreme weather and lost control and rammed into the hidden rocks, abundant in the Nan'ao sea area.

"In ancient times, Chinese merchant vessels relied mainly on seasonal winds to travel," Jiang says.

This reliance on seasonal winds increased their risk of bumping into extreme weather, Jiang explains.

Overloading and strong currents in the Nan'ao sea area are other possible reasons.

Except for its deck most of the ship is in good shape and experts say that the ship is far more important than the goods it carried, as there are few records of the shipbuilding technology 400 years ago in China.

It is hoped that a detailed study on the shipwreck will shed light on shipbuilding during the Ming Dynasty and provide an insight into the design and construction of the renowned fleet of Treasure Boats.

Commanded by Zheng He these ships completed seven cross-Indian Ocean voyages in the early Ming Dynasty. This fleet was built 200 years before Nan'ao-1.

"We seldom see genuine examples of ocean-faring vessels from the Ming Dynasty," says Mao Peiqi, a historian from the Beijing-based Renmin University. "We are very interested in this."

The salvage team is still devising a plan to hoist the vessel from the water.

"It is still too early to tell when and how we are going to lift the ship out of the water," says Cui Yong, executive leader of the ship's underwater recovery mission. "Our pressing task is to recover as much as of cargo before the monsoon season arrives in July."

The excavation was scheduled to begin on September 26, 2009, but was postponed due to the severe weather conditions.