An accidental discovery

In August 1987, a team from Maritime Exploration & Recoveries PLC (MER PLC) of Southampton, England was granted permission by the Chinese government to search and recover the wreck of the 18th-century ship Rijnsburg, which belonged to the Dutch East India Company. It was believed to have sunk in 1772 near Xiachuan Island in the area of Nanhai Chuanshan Isles, Guangdong Province. According to records from the Historical Documents Library of the Netherlands as well as the Maritime Library, this shipwreck was 42 m in length and was loaded with 385.5 tons of tin ingots, six boxes of silver, 135 tons of pepper and other goods such as cocoa, cotton and fur. With the approval of the relevant authorities of China, a joint team was formed, with the Guangzhou Rescue and Salvage Bureau of the Ministry of Communications as a participant.

Salvage work officially began in August that year in the sea of the Chuanshan Isles (Fig.1). Salvage crews from China and the UK used sonar instruments to investigate the seabed in a predetermined area. Due to the deep mud on the seabed, crews from Britain, using a large seabed grab to conduct the excavation, unexpectedly fished out a large number of artefacts, including ceramics, bronze, tin, gilded metal and steel ware, etc. Crews from China concluded that this was not the Dutch merchant ship, but an ancient Chinese shipwreck. Among all the discoveries, the majority of the ceramics dated to the Song and Yuan Dynasties, hence dating the shipwreck to the same period.

The shipwreck is located in the western part of Guangdong Province, approximately 102 nautical miles to the west of the Pearl River Estuary; it rests on the continental shelf in the northern part of the South China Sea. The seafloor area of the shipwreck is within the 50 m isobath of the offshore waters, at a depth of 24–26 metres. There are many reefs around the location of the shipwreck. Two rock outcrops are about 1500 metres from the wreck (Fig. 2). Larger islands such as Weizhou Island, Shang/Xia Chuan Islands and Hailing Island are in the distance.

The Chinese staff on the scene took immediate protective measures and handed over the discoveries to the Guangdong Provincial Museum. After preliminary study, the researchers concluded that the shipwreck is associated with the “Maritime Silk Road” of ancient China. Underwater archaeological work on this shipwreck had the potential to provide extremely rare material information for the study of the history of the Maritime Silk Road, the nautical history of China, the history of ship-building, as well as the history of ceramics. These are critical types of information that cannot be provided by written records or terrestrial archaeology. The recovery of this ancient shipwreck, which had been submerged for over 800 years, has revealed solid evidence for the world to understand ancient exchange and trade between ancient China and other countries.

Figure 5.1. Diagram of the shipwreck’s location

Figure 2: The research area (the two rock outcrops are in the distance)

The underwater survey and the intact recovery

In August 1989, the former History Museum of China and the Japan Research Institution of Underwater Archaeology signed a letter of intent to cooperate in the underwater archaeological survey of the South China Sea shipwreck. They established the “Sino-Japanese Joint China South Sea Shipwreck Investigation Academic Committee”. Chairman of the Chinese Archaeological Society, Mr. Su Bingqi, served as the president, and Mr. Egami Namio, president of the Japanese Archaeological Society, was the vice president. In November 1989, the first preparatory investigation of the South China Sea Wreck was carried out. “The South China Sea Shipwreck Underwater Archaeology Investigation Team” was formed, with Mr. Yu Weichao, the director of the History Museum of China, serving as leader, and Mr. Tanabe Shōzō, director of the Japan Research Institution of Underwater Archaeology, as vice leader, (Fig. 3). Since the investigation was carried out during the period of the northeast monsoon, the wind and waves posed problems, and visibility underwater was rather poor. Under such circumstances, only a few porcelain fragments were found. In contrast with the 1987 excavations, it was possible to determine that these fragments came from the shipwreck, thus enabling the archaeologists to determine the actual location of the wreck. Before formal excavation work started, Mr. Yu Weichao suggested that the shipwreck be named “Nanhai Ⅰ” to emphasise the link to China.

This survey allowed researchers to confirm the location of the ship, collect specimens, and obtain first-hand information on the sea conditions and meteorology of the shipwreck. However, due to the team’s lack of expertise in underwater archaeology, the inappropriate choice of the workboats, the team’s unfamiliarity with monsoon and other weather conditions, inexperience with working underwater, and various other reasons, collaboration between China and Japan was unable to continue. China’s underwater archaeology was also in its infancy, and funding from the state was limited. Underwater archaeological investigation and excavation at the Nanhai Ⅰ had to be put on hold.

In April 2001, underwater archaeological work on Nanhai I resumed. The Underwater Archaeology Research Center of the History Museum of China formed the Underwater Archaeology Team of Nanhai I. They utilised advanced technology such as sonar, a bottom profiler, and differential GPS in their survey. For the first time, underwater archaeologists explored the conglomerations and cultural relics scattered on the shipwreck and recorded the position of the site with greater accuracy.

In October 2001, when archaeologists returned to the location of Nanhai Ⅰ, they encountered a massive concentration of porcelain fragments and determined the accurate position of the shipwreck site. Over a nearly 30-year period of scientific underwater archaeology, Nanhai Ⅰ, a shipwreck of the Song Dynasty, was gradually excavated in view of the public.

A number of underwater archaeological investigations were carried out to explore more of Nanhai Ⅰ, including such tasks as dredging, underwater measurement, recording, underwater photography, collection of scattered relics, and trial excavations, via which critical materials and specimens were obtained (Fig. 4). In 2007, Nanhai Ⅰ was raised from the seabed by intact salvage technology and moved into the Maritime Silk Road Museum (Figs. 5 and 6). The intact salvage resulted from the collaboration of scientific technology and skillful marine engineering for the benefit of the conservation of cultural heritage in China. During this process, the underwater archaeology of the Nanhai Ⅰ expanded to encompass the overall conservation work of underwater heritage. At the same time, the establishment of the special museum based on Nanhai Ⅰ demonstrates the Chinese government’s high regard for underwater cultural heritage and its responsible attitude toward history.

Figure 3: Mr. Yu Weichao and Mr. Tanabe Shōzō

Figure 4: The underwater investigation team

Figure 5: Intact raising of the ship

Figure 6: Panoramic view of the Maritime Silk Road Museum

The comprehensive excavation

Comprehensive protection and excavation work was officially launched on November 28, 2013. This task resembled neither standard underwater archaeology nor traditional terrestrial archaeology. Since all excavation work was conducted in a caisson, excavation and working methods had to be adjusted according to the situation to achieve maximum effect and efficiency. In the excavation, cultural relics inside the ship were first cleaned, and then the hull body was reinforced from both the inner and the outer sides. The exterior of the excavated ship was cleaned afterwards. Due to the massive size of Nanhai Ⅰ and the arched shape of the bow and stern of the ship, it was very likely that the ship would crack due to decomposition. It was therefore necessary first to clear and extract the cargo in the wreck to reduce the load inside the ship.

Since the compartmentalised construction of the shipwreck forms an organic whole, the excavation had to be carried out as an integrated operation. Therefore, when the excavation reached the interior of the hull, the team uncovered the remains by standard levels (整体下降式发掘) according to different regions in the hull, so as to understand the overall layout and relationships of the artefacts in the shipwreck. After comprehensively judging the state of the shipwreck and formulating a protection and support plan, the external excavation of the lower hull was gradually carried out, and the shipwreck was finally separated from the caisson. The water level in the “crystal palace” (a term used to refer to the museum, especially the water-tight chamber where the ship is placed) was controlled by the water outside of the caisson, which was in turn adjusted by a recycling system. The height difference between the water surface and the excavation surface of the caisson was controlled, and the water level was lowered at a gradual rate in accordance with the requirement to maintain specific humidity and temperature for conservation work, so that the site environment would not change drastically, thus avoiding damage to the cultural relics (Fig. 7).

In February 2014, excavation was officially initiated to clean up the shipwreck in the caisson at a scale of 6 × 6 m units. The excavation covered an area of 398.6 m2 in total (Fig. 8). Underwater archaeological survey and excavation revealed that the wreck was covered by a layer of sea mud about 1–1.5 m thick. On and around the wooden hull was a great amount of conglomeration. Due to the influence of fishing activities, underwater investigation, relic extraction, and ocean dynamics, the stratigraphy was disturbed to varying degrees in various parts of the site, but the distribution of each stratum was basically clear (Fig. 9). From the perspective of the west section of the trenches from T0101 to T0601, and the south section of the trenches from T0401 to T0402, each stratum transitioned gradually to the next layer, exhibiting a typical marine burial environment that was affected by later external forces and hydrodynamics. In addition, when the ship sank into the sea mud, the sea mud would flow into the ship’s interior due to the pressure of the ship. The broken wooden structures as well as part of the cargo were moved and even compacted. Some artefacts in the cargo constantly shifted in position as the ship gradually settled into the mud.

Figure 7: Complete view of the shipwreck after transfer to the museum

Figure 8: Plan of the shipwreck

Figure 9: Distribution of trenches and the outline of the ship’s hull

The cargo

The cargo of the ship consisted of a wide range of artefacts. Iron and porcelain are the major commodities among them. Organic materials such as silk and paper would not have survived, and only a small number of chemical residues have been detected, which might help us to reconstruct the organic items in the cargo. At present, the cargo has been preliminarily sorted, and about 180,000 cultural relics have been excavated. It is suspected that some items fell out of the hull when the ship hit the seabed. These have not been recovered. In addition to iron and porcelains, there are also gold, silver, copper, lead, tin and other metal artefacts, bamboo lacquer wares, human bones, ore specimens, glassware, and animal and plant remains (Fig. 10). The compartments in the middle of the hull yielded the densest concentration of cargo.

Since the ship was recovered intact, it was possible to reconstruct the sequence in which the items in the cargo were loaded (Fig. 11). The goods in the ship comprised mainly iron and porcelain, as well as a large number of coins. According to documentary sources which describe the goods traded in the Song Dynasty, silk was also a bulk cargo. Due to long-term immersion in the sea, organic matter has completely decayed. However, silk protein residue was detected in the sediment in some compartments, thus indicating the presence of silk in the cargo.

Many personal items, not part of the cargo, were excavated in the ship, such as gold ornaments, including rings (Fig. 12), bracelets, armbands, necklaces (Fig. 13), pendants (Fig. 14) as well as gold sheets, jade pieces, silver ingots (Fig. 15), and lacquerware, etc. Many semi-finished metal products, such as iron bars, iron ingots, and iron pans, were loaded in some compartments and on deck surfaces, and a large amount of encrustation formed on these metal materials.

As the excavation proceeded, the composition of the cargo became more clear. The majority of porcelain consists of products of famous kilns in southern China at the time, mainly from Jiangxi, Fujian, and Zhejiang. Among all the products, Qingbai porcelain from Jingdezhen, white, green and white porcelains of Dehua kiln in Fujian, brown glazed wares and green glazed wares from Cizao kilns, as well as green glazed porcelain of Minnan and the green glazed wares from Longquan kilns. Various types of these porcelains include ewers (Fig.16), vases, jars, bowls (Fig.17), plates, saucers, bo-type bowls (similar to alms bowls), cosmetic boxes (Fig.18), stoves, etc. Other discoveries, such as objects made from metal (gold, silver, bronze and tin) and lacquer, are also very important. Many gold leaves and silver plaques bear stamped characters, including store names, weights and place names, which indicate that the commodity economy in the Southern Song Dynasty was highly organised and extended to overseas trade. Some of the items in the cargo consist of porcelains made specifically for export, with special uses and aesthetic properties, such as gold jewellery in exotic styles, decorated with cinnabar, mercury, enamel and red enamel in particular.

After the 11th century, exchange between China and the world became extremely frequent, and the Maritime Silk Road reached a new height of prosperity. The large number of trade goods on the Nanhai I comprise export items designated for different markets to meet specific demands for uses and specialised production. Aesthetics, styles and crafts of different cultures have also had a huge impact on Chinese porcelain in ways similar to what we encounter in the modern day. Manufactured goods such as iron products, bronze ware, and silk, as well as daily necessities, formed the main export items. The great amount of gold, silver, and bronze coins is critical evidence for understanding maritime trade in the Southern Song Dynasty, providing insight into the main content of China’s maritime trade with other countries at that time.

Figure 10: Shipwreck with fully loaded compartments

Figure 11: Vertically stacked cargo

Figure 12: Gold rings

Figure 13: Gold necklace

Figure 14: Gold pendant

Figure 15: Silver ingot

Figure 16: Fujian Dehua white glazed ewer

Figure 17: Jiangxi Jingdezhen Qingbai glazed bowl

Figure 18: Cosmetic box filled with lids for small containers

The gold jewellery and silverware, copper rings, coins, tin items, lacquerware, cinnabar, and some porcelains found during the cleanup were scattered on the upper surface and the surrounding area of each compartment. Their initial loading positions are unclear. Moreover, the amount of lacquer and gold is relatively small, raising questions regarding whether these items were meant for trading. However, the condition of the cargo exposed on the surface of each compartment from the bow to the hull of the ship is clear. Except for the iron pots and nails placed on the deck, cabins are mainly loaded with porcelain of different types. The upper part of some of the compartments was occupied by iron pots and nails.

Forward Compartment (C01): There were plenty of iron nails and pots on the deck. Porcelains stacked in the compartment included Jingdezhen-type shadow blue (qingbai) unglazed-rim bowls and foliated rim bowls, Longquan-type celadon bowls and plates with incised floral design, Dehua-type white porcelains and qingbai porcelains in the shape of big bowls (plates), big and small trumpet-mouth vases, big and small covered boxes, Cizao-type dark brown jars, and small-mouth “chicken-leg” vases.

Compartment 2 (C02) is trapezoidal in cross-section. The length of the upper bulkhead is 3.79 m, and the lower bulkhead is 5.38 m. The width is 2.01 m. The depth is 1.89 m. At the bottom, the bulkhead length of C02a is about 3.3 m, and the bulkhead length of C02b is about 2.17 m. Both C02a and C02b are divided into two sections, the upper one designated ① and the lower one designated ②. The depth of layer ① is 46–69 cm. The depth of layer ② is 96–121 cm. On the middle deck are iron nails and pots. The compartment contained porcelains, for example, Jingdezhen-type shadow qingbai foliated rim bowls, Longquan-type celadon came in forms including foliated rim bowls and celadon bowls and plates with incised floral design, Dehua-type white porcelains of big bowls with foliated petaled rims, big and small trumpet-mouth vases, big and small powder boxes, double-gourd vases, Cizao-type big and small dark brown jars, and small-mouth “chicken-leg” vases. Most of the wares are broken. On the surface of some of the porcelains are marks of iron rust. In C02a②, some small pieces are mixed up, which might have been caused by the shaking of the ship.

Compartment (C03): Concentrations of iron nails and pots were found on the middle deck. The upper side of the cabin is 1.9 m wide and 5.25–6.76 m long. The panel is 11–12 cm wide. The compartment is subdivided by a thin vertical panel, a multiple-spliced rectangle 1.9 m long and 0.3 m wide, separating the cabin into left and right parts. The left one is designated C03a., and the right one is C03b. The different compartments contain different types of porcelain. These mainly consist of green and white glazed plates, covered boxes, and green glazed bowls. The blue glazed bowls are tightly packed, while the blue and white glazed plates and covered boxes are relatively jumbled. The porcelains under the planking are mostly broken. The porcelain in the compartment includes green-glazed incised bowls and plates of Longquan style, Dehua white or blue and white porcelain big bowls (plates), green glazed sunflower foliated bowls, incised bowls, horizontal striation patterned bowls of Minqing Yiyao style, with dark brown glaze “chicken leg” vases from Cizao, etc.

Compartment (C04): The left and right decks were covered with iron pots beneath which were nails. The whole compartment is 2.0 m wide and 2.15 m deep; the front part is 6.8 m wide, increasing to 7.71 m at the rear. The compartment was divided into two sections by a board in the middle. The contents are mainly porcelains and iron wares. Among the iron wares are bundles of iron bars and six stacks of iron pots, which are distributed in the middle area of the upper compartment, while the rest was filled with porcelain. The porcelain in the compartment consisted of many types, including Jingdezhen style shadow-blue chrysanthemum petal bowls, bowls with scenes depicting infants, foliated rim plates, Longquan style qingbai incised floral bowls, small and large Dehua style white or qingbai bowls, covered boxes, and incised floral decorated bowls (plates), Cizao style brown glazed “chicken leg” vases, etc.; the spaces between each layer of large ceramics are filled with more blue and white glaze covered boxes and brown glazed flat belly small-mouth jars. Both green-glazed large and small bowls had packaging traces, which are residues of some type of grass probably used to tie a set of porcelains in a bundle. Some sets consisted of four large powder boxes and five small powder boxes; other groups included ten small bowls with horizontal striation patterns; and 25 green glazed large bowls with horizontal striation patterns.

Compartment (C05): The upper opening is 1.45 m deep; the widths of the left and right sides are 7.5 m and 8.33 m, and the deepest point is 1.86–1.90 m from the top of the compartment; there are two layers of boards within the compartment.

Iron pots were stored on the left side above the deck, with iron nails on the right. The porcelains in the cabin include Jingdezhen shadow blue and white foliated rim plates, Dehua-style incised big bowls, wide and flat large plates, large and small powder boxes, and jars. Some coins, copper rings, animal skeletons, fruit seeds (Fig. 19), organic residues, and wood and bamboo strips with ink were also unearthed.

Figure 19: Fruit seeds

Compartment (C06): This compartment includes the main mast. The upper entrance is 1m deep, 8.33–8.5 m wide on the left and right sides, and has a maximum depth of 2.15 m. Two rows of thin panels laid in a longitudinal direction divide the cabin into three parts horizontally from left to right, forming three compartments (left, middle, and right). Nails were stacked on the left and right above the deck. The porcelains in the cabin include Longquan-type green incised porcelain big bowls, Dehua-type white or qingbai incised big bowls (plates), Jianyao black glazed cups, etc. There are also bamboo fans, copper coins, wooden boards, lacquer wood sheets and wooden boxes, as well as more bones (mainly ribs), fruit pits, tin beads, etc.

Compartment (C07): the bulkhead (BHD6) between C7 and C6 is subdivided into upper and lower parts by a mast beam, and is trapezoidal from top view. The opening of the upper bulkhead is about 1.5 m above the mast girder, the lower bulkhead is about 1.1 m below the mast girder, the maximum residual width from port side to starboard is 8.61 m, and the depth from the highest point of the residual hull (top of the bulkhead) to the lowest point of the upper surface of the ship’s hull is about 2.8 m. Iron nails are piled on the left (port) side of the ship. The porcelains in the cabin include Jingdezhen shadow blue and white foliated rim cups, Longquan-type green glazed incised large bowls, plates, dishes, cups, and ribbed bowls, Dehua-type white or qingbai porcelains in the form of large bowls (plates), two-ridged pots, four-ridged pots, ewers, large and small trumpet-mouthed vases, Cizao green glazed floral stamped plates, brown glazed small mouth jars, four-ridged large and small jars, small-mouthed “chicken leg” vases, etc. The majority of porcelain consists of Longquan celadon bowls and Minqing Yiyao shallow wide body big bowls. The celadon bowls of Longquan type are stacked in piles under the C7c compartment down to the bottom. Generally, they are tied with bamboo strips, 40–41, 50–51 or 60–61 pieces in a stack. Stacks of large bowls with shallow, wide bodies were placed within the C7A compartment to the bottom of the cabin, in what appeared to be 25 or 50 pieces within each bundle. A small number of green glazed earthenware basins, brown glazed stoneware jars, white porcelain covered boxes, white porcelain jarlets, white gourd-shaped vases etc. were inserted into the gaps between the bundles as well as into any gaps between the stacked porcelain jars; a small number of brown glazed jars contained plant seeds or Chinese medicinal herbs. C7b compartment has a section of iron woks or circular frying pans with five bundles each comprising large Dehua white porcelain plates and Minqing Yiyao white porcelain small bowls. Surrounding the iron woks and underneath them, especially in the few layers under the C7b compartment level, is a mixture of Longquan green porcelain bowls and Minqing Yiyao shallow wide body big bowls. Copper coins, which are not numerous, are mainly found on the surface of the muddy silt in the crevices between the upper layers of porcelain.

Compartment (C08): The maximum width of the compartment is 1.35 m, and the maximum depth is 2.15 m. The northern compartment board inclines slightly to the north, the southern compartment board is steep and straight, and the north and south compartment dividers comprise six boards. A large iron nail conglomeration is set in the middle. The main commodities in this compartment are porcelains. There are Cizao brown glazed large jars, brown glazed flat jars, Dehua qingbai big plates, trumpet-mouthed vases, powder boxes, storage jars, lids, Longquan green glazed bowls and plates, and Jingdezhen qingbai porcelain bowls, plates and foliated rim plates with unglazed-rims. Also, a group of bronze mirrors was unearthed. The owner of the cargo in this compartment utilised the large jars to store bowls, trumpet-mouthed vases, covered boxes, storage pots, and bronze mirrors which were mainly small, high value or fragile items. The gaps between the big pots were filled with Dehua large plates, brown glazed squat jars, and powder boxes. Some of the large jars contain plant remains; for instance, one large jar contained rice husk remains.

Compartment (C09): The upper layer of cargo on the port side (left) mainly consisted of brown glazed four-ridged jars. Scattered in the right half of the middle section are some silver collars and Longquan green glazed bowls, Dehua white porcelain and qingbai large and small covered boxes, storage jars, Minqing Yiyao green glazed bowls, Cizao green glazed bottles, etc. The compartment is 1.22 m wide and has a maximum depth of about 1.8 m. Two planks divide the compartment from left to right into three small compartments: a, b, c. C9c represents the topmost layer. Its cargo consisted of brown glazed jars. Each layer of ceramics was separated from the others by wood strips. The bottommost layer contained six well-preserved large jars with fish scale pattern decoration. Inside these jars were various small artefacts.

Compartment (C010): This section measures 8.85 m wide from left to right, 1.08 m from front to back, and 2.26 m deep at the deepest point. Above the deck were silver ingots and a conglomeration of iron nails in the middle. The porcelains in the cabin comprise mainly Minqing Yiyao green glazed bowls. There was also a small number of Dehua white porcelain big bowls (plates), slightly more brown-glazed jars, and a few brown-glazed small-mouthed jars. Inside these jars are small items such as qingbai small-mouthed jarlets, bottle-necked vases, meiping vases, brown-glazed small-mouth jars, qingbai foliated rimmed bowls) and areca nuts.

Compartment (C011): The compartment is 9.29–9.33 m long and 1.79–1.96 m wide, which is divided into three small compartments. The artefacts found on the left middle section on top of the deck comprise predominantly a conglomeration of iron pots while the left side contains a mixture of iron pots and iron nail coagulation. The cargo in the left section of the interior of the compartment mainly consisted of large Dehua qingbai porcelain plates, plates with sawtooth motifs on the rim, and Minqing Yiyao green glazed bowls. The right section of the compartment contained mainly Minqing Yiyao green glazed bowls.

Compartment (C012) is 4.15 m long, 1.5 m wide and 1.5 m deep. This compartment mainly contained iron and porcelain items. The porcelain is predominantly Minqing Yiyao green-glazed bowls and brown-glazed Cizao jars. The iron items are mostly iron bars bundled with stacked iron pots.

Compartment C013 is 8.43 m long and 1.46 m wide, divided from left to right into three small compartments, a, b and c. There are several iron nail conglomerations in the middle. The goods inside the cabin are all porcelain, the majority of which are green glazed bowls with an incised string pattern. These are mainly green-glazed incised Longquan porcelain bowls. In compartments b and c, there were a number of large white glazed bowls, four-ridged jars, brown glazed small-mouth jars, and long neck bottles, etc. There were also Dehua white porcelains or qingbai porcelain large bowls (plates) with incised decoration, etc. The huge quantity of porcelain was tightly stacked, but most of them were badly broken.

Stern compartments (C014): There are two small compartments separated longitudinally by a divider into left and right. Large white glazed Dehua porcelain bowls were stacked in the left cabin. The right cabin was full of Longquan green glazed incised porcelain bowls, foliated rim cups and other porcelains. The area between the two compartments and the rudder hole was covered by a large number of scattered iron nails and iron pot concretions. Some stacks of qingbai glazed chrysanthemum plates and green porcelain bowls were also present.
If the cargo is classified according to function, we can distinguish between trading goods, daily necessities of life on board, and personal articles carried by the crew and merchants:

Cargo:

Iron, gold and other metals, porcelain, mineral raw materials, silk, etc. stored in different compartments were all goods for trade.

Articles for daily use on board:

These include wooden barrels, wooden basin fragments, octagonal varnished wooden plates unearthed from the collapsed wooden structure at the stern of the ship, storage jars bearing the writing "zhouqiao qian gong yong " suggesting that these were meant for public use or to be shared, large jars of C09 and C10, and small celadon jars for storing plums in C08, etc.

Among them, part of the “zhouqiao qian gong yong” ceramic containers and the large jars of C09 and C10 compartments are water vessels. Wooden barrels are commonly found in shipwrecks both in China and abroad. Some of the bucket pieces still retain traces of iron hoops. Cooking utensils and food processing tools include stone mortars and pestles, pottery stoves, etc. The assemblage of stone mortars, grinding stones, and pestles have been used to process grains since the Neolithic age and were probably used to process food on board. In the latest excavation, we also found fragments of a round stove made of red earthenware with traces of soot or carbon from being exposed to fire. Combined with a large number of all kinds of iron pots on board, the cooking utensils on board should be a combination of pottery stoves and iron pots. Among the unearthed cultural relics are bundles of wooden handle pieces, wooden handle knives and wooden handle axes, all of which are ships’ cargo. Either the ship had a large supply of such implements, or they were also part of the cargo.

Items classified as daily necessities include inkstones, wooden combs, bronze mirrors, etc. Two inkstones were found in the ship, one of which was exhibited in Guangdong Maritime Silk Road Museum. It is an intact inkstone. Another one was unearthed in 2014. The inkstone contained a residue of ink. A large number of porcelain inkstones and some wooden plates with ink books have been unearthed on the ship. Inkstones and matching brushes may have been important tools for management records on the ship.

The wood combs found are all fragments. The Guangdong Museum of the Maritime Silk Road collected one comb comprising two pieces of wood that came out of the water in 2002. After 2013, two pieces of wooden combs were excavated. Many bronze mirrors have been found on the ship, most of which are probably part of the cargo. However, due to the discovery of combs, some of these mirrors may have been used by the crew. In the Song Dynasty, men kept long hair in buns, and wooden combs and bronze mirrors would have been daily necessities.

Personal belongings:

These include many gold and tin items. One gold ornament exhibits Arabic style, gold leaf and most of the gold ornaments were found in the same container. This box of gold coins and gold ornaments may have been owned by foreign merchants on board. There are also many wooden beads and strings of beads on the ship, with the treasure vases (purnaghata) or gourd as the Buddha’s head, thus forming the wooden tripitaka. Another carved wooden ornament looks like a cicada.

Many jade and glass ornaments were unearthed on the ship. At present, examples include carved jade Guanyin and Luohan statues from 2002, now in the collection of the Guangdong Maritime Silk Road Museum. In 2014, an intact jade statue of a human being and several broken jade images were unearthed. A crystal pendant with three-way holes on it was made of glass rings and glass utensils. The glass utensils had a black glass base, white-coloured foundation, and green-yellow decoration. In addition, there is a polished fish spine, which may have been worked by a crewman in his spare time. The ornaments of jade, crystal and glass are more valuable and may have been personal or commercial property of merchants. Items with religious significance, such as Buddha statues and wooden and fishbone ornaments, could have been worn by ordinary sailors. The maritime Silk Road was one of the main conduits for the spread of Buddhism. Besides crewmen, monks and pilgrims may also have been on board and may have brought Buddha statues with them.

Hull

The existing hull structure is relatively complete. The ship type has a small ratio of length to width. It belongs to the Fu-ship structure with good seaworthiness, large loading capacity, and suitability for ocean navigation. Fu refers to the type of coastal hugging ship constructed in the Fujian area. The bow and stern of this wreck are damaged, and nothing remains of the superstructure. The starboard side of the stern is slightly inclined downward. The remains of the vessel are about 22.15 m long, with a maximum width of about 9.85 m, covering an area of about 179.15 m2. Both the port and starboard consist of several layers of planking characteristic of a Chinese traditional Fu ship type, mainly triple-plank structures. The deck on the port side is well-preserved. There are 14 existing compartments (including two stern compartments arranged symmetrically), separated by 14 wooden partition boards. The upper parts of the bulkheads are damaged but the lower parts are well preserved. The compartments are separated by 13 transverse watertight bulkheads of uneven length and width. Some of the compartments are subdivided by vertical partition boards (Figs. 20 and 21).

The exposed remaining parts of the hull include left and right exterior planks, deck, bulkheads, a gap in the stern for the rudder as well as the mast joist, shell plate, bottom plate and small panels in the ship. The remaining exterior of the hull structure and the shipbuilding technology utilising overlapping planking is relatively clear. Excavation and cleaning revealed that the distance between the transverse bulkhead panels of the hull is between 0.62 and 2.01 m. Two longitudinal rows of diaphragms have been found in the compartments into which the hold is divided. The midship is provided with an inverted mast. Remnants of the deck are visible on top of some compartments. The upper structure of the midship and stern has collapsed. A large number of structural planks are scattered around the stern. The wood for the hull planks consists of tree species such as Pinus massoniana, Fujian cypress, Hainan olive tree, stalk from Mischocarpus, and southern alder. Judging from the exposed hull structure and shape, the Nanhai I had a V-shaped hull with a keel and multiple layers of planking. It was relatively small and its proportions were those of a short, fat ship type with a high safety factor, good seaworthiness, and large cargo capacity. It belongs to the “Fu boat”, one of three ship types in ancient China. There is an old saying that “the sea boat is based on Fujian, followed by the west boat in Guangdong, followed by the boat in Wenmingzhou”. Marco Polo described Chinese ships as having two layers of planks, to which a third was added as a reinforcement after some years of service. He also mentions the division of the ship by 13 bulkheads, and the use of nails as fasteners (Latham 1958: 241–43). Some of the largest ships have 13 large compartments, separated by thick plates, which are used for sea risk prevention". It shows that the choice of ocean-going ship type is also the result of constant exploring and experience. In the book of Fujian Road Quanzhou of Taiping Huanyu, the “sea ship” is even listed as a product of Quanzhou. The existing hull structure is the most complex of any early Chinese ship yet discovered. The division of the cargo hold into compartments is very rare in Chinese shipwreck archaeology.

Song Huiyao (c. 18th century text compiled about the main government treatises of the Song dynasty) contains the following description: “Fujian Guangnan seaway is deep and broad… Six sharp-bottomed ships, three feet wide on each side and three feet wide on the bottom, carrying about 3000 objects”. In Xuanhe Fengshi Gaoli tujing (c. 12th century), the common boat is also “more than ten feet long, three feet deep, two feet wide and five feet wide, which can carry two thousand Dendrobium millet”. Shipwrecks from the Song and Yuan Dynasties, such as those in Houzhu, Quanzhou, Huaguang Reef, and Xin’an, South Korea, are all about the same size. It can be argued that the Nanhai I is a representative example of a general-purpose ship type commonly used in this period.

Trade

Judging from the existing materials, the Nanhai I shipwreck’s cargo consisted of a full load of commodities from Quanzhou in the Southern Song Dynasty. The South China Sea has always been an important channel connecting the mainland and the outside world. The sea lanes in the exchanges between China and the West were extremely prosperous during the Song Dynasty of the 10th to the 13th centuries. In the history of the maritime Silk Road, the South China Sea played a dynamic and irreplaceable role. The spatial structure of the maritime Silk Road in the South China Sea constituted a unified sphere of production, transportation, and marketing. Since the Song and Yuan Dynasties, plentiful records of maritime traffic in the South China Sea exist in local chronicles and documents.

There has also been much progress in archaeological work and related discoveries in the coastal and inland areas and at both ends of the export trade, but direct discoveries in the midst of the route itself are relatively rare. Sites such as Nanhai I and “Huaguang reef shipwreck” in China’s waters are uncommon. This lack of archaeological sites is not commensurate with the prosperity of the Maritime Silk Road in the South China Sea at that time. The South China Sea has long been a bridge and window connecting the East and the West from the Han to the Six Dynasties, the spread of Buddhism to the East, the overseas trade in the Tang and Song Dynasties, the Zheng He voyages in the Ming, the self-strengthening movement during the Qing, the Westernisation Movement, and even in the present.

The excavation of Nanhai I not only fills in a blank of Silk Road research in the South China Sea; it also revives a messenger of civilisation which has been sleeping on the seafloor for nearly a thousand years and once again becomes active in the international arena of China’s exchanges with the world. As a ship loaded with cargo that sank shortly after it began its voyage, Nanhai I is undoubtedly unfortunate. However, as a witness to the ancient maritime Silk Road, which connected the world, it is immortal.

Every ancient shipwreck discovered is a perfect specimen full of information, a “time capsule” sealed through time and space. It is also a witness to the great sacrifice of our ancestors. The opening and expansion of the ancient “maritime Silk Road” waterway was not completed by one generation, nor was it led by one place and one side. The opening of its channel and the continuous expansion of its maritime network benefited from the common development of the ancient people of the East and the West. Through ocean transportation, people thousands of miles away can show their colourful cultures to each other, exchange unique production products, connect different races, and communicate with each other for common progress. The economic activity of commodity exchange is undoubtedly the most significant factor. Many precious cultural relics found on Nanhai I are characterised by cultural exchange and integration.

As a miniature world from a specific time, Nanhai I contains a wealth of ancient information, exhibiting many aspects of a broad interaction sphere and social scene 800 years ago. With the completion of the excavation of the compartments by June 2019, the number of artefacts found at the site had reached nearly 200,000, far exceeding the original estimate of 60,000–80,000.