The development of civilization requires exchange and communication, in the developed modern society, people can communicate with each other in countless ways, and even communicate with potential civilizations by transmitting satellite signals. In ancient times, our human footprints were only the land under our feet, and the way of communication was also very single, only through the road between land, to each other's kingdoms.
As we explore the boundaries, we discover that in addition to the land we live on, there are vast and insurmountable oceans. Later, with the development of science and technology, people found a means of transportation across the ocean - ships, and people used this hollow container to successfully reach the land at the other end of the ocean, thus discovering a wider world. As the only means of transportation at sea, steamships have promoted the progress of world civilization and economic development.
In the face of the vast sea, human power is limited, in the thousands of years of human history, there are countless ships traveling to and from the world's oceans, of which due to various accidents sunk in the sea countless. With the progress of science and technology now, those sinking in the ocean, well-preserved giant ships have once again appeared in front of the eyes of the world. In the excavation of China's shipwrecks, the most mysterious and valuable is none other than the South China Sea No. 1.
1. The cultural relics value of Nanhai No. 1
Sunk in the waters of Taishan City, Guangdong Province, the Nanhai No. 1 is the oldest, largest and best-preserved ancient trading merchant ship in the world. Nanhai-1 was first discovered in 1987, when it was not eligible for salvage due to technology and financial constraints. It was not until 2004 that the state and archaeological teams finalized the basic salvage programme and began to implement it gradually.
After the complete salvage of Nanhai No. 1, a total of 180,000 rare treasures were found on board, and the total value of relevant experts estimated was as high as 300 billion US dollars. The cultural relics of the shipwreck include porcelain, gold, iron, bronze and other major types, including many national treasure-level cultural relics. Among the thousands of porcelains that come out of the water, there are not only exquisite porcelain from more than 30 famous different kilns in ancient China, but also large porcelain bowls from Arabia, which are very exotic.
Most of these porcelains belong to the national first- and second-class cultural relics, and the market value is immeasurable. After seeing the numerous porcelains in Nanhai No. 1, Geng Baochang, an expert in porcelain research, once issued a deep sigh: "After doing porcelain research for most of my life, I saw such a complete range of porcelain and valuable porcelain for the first time in my life."
Among the cultural relics of the South China Sea No. 1, in addition to the porcelain treasures, there are also very eye-catching and magnificent gold objects, due to the good secrecy of the ship, the South China Sea No. 1, which has been silent in the water for 800 years, is still quite well preserved, so the gold on the ship does not have traces of rust, and still preserves the properties of metal glitter.
The gold bracelet, gold ring, gold necklace and gold belt in the South China Sea No. 1 have shown great characteristics, and there are not only gold belts up to 1.8 long on board, but also gold bracelets weighing up to 200 grams, and this large number of gold objects also confirms the identity of the owner of the ship from the side.
The value of Nanhai No. 1 lies not only in the cultural relics on its ships, but also in Nanhai No. 1 itself. This sunken Nanhai No. 1 provides a major reference value for experts in different fields in China to study ancient shipbuilding technology, the Maritime Silk Road, the history of ceramic development and the history of world trade.
2. Excavation of Nanhai No. 1
The discovery of Nanhai No. 1 was a coincidence, and in 1987 two Britons traveled thousands of miles to Guangdong Province to find the Rhineburg, which was sunk near the South China Sea and was full of gold and silver jewelry. In order to determine the specific sinking address of the Rhineborg, they cooperated with the local government. After more than a month of salvage activities, the Rhineburg is still missing, but at the end of the salvage activities, the South China Sea One hidden deep under the silt was found. After clarifying the ownership of Nanhai-1 with the two British, the local government chose to block its relevant information because it did not have the conditions for salvage.
It was not until 20 years later, when the salvage technology was ripe, that the news was announced to the world. In the face of 800 years ago giant ships, archaeologists in the specific salvage plan when caught in a dilemma, if it is a general shipwreck, most people will choose the seabed to decompose the ship, after salvaging cultural relics, the shipwreck is spliced together again, but this 26 meters wide, 11 meters high giant ship, itself is a huge cultural relics, in the seabed to dismantle it and then assemble, is a huge damage to it, is not conducive to the study of ancient shipbuilding technology and the protection of cultural relics.
In order to maintain the integrity of the hull, after many considerations, archaeologists finally chose the overall salvage plan, by building a container container large enough to accommodate Nanhai No. 1, using a crane to lift the container containing Nanhai No. 1 from the seabed.
Although the scheme is simple, but the overall salvage in the implementation of the implementation of many problems, the deep sea has a huge buoyancy, want the container to sink into the seabed, need to load thousands of tons of weight on the container, the archaeological team continues to overcome difficulties, to the container load cement, when the container loaded with a maximum load weight of 4000 tons, there is still a step away from cutting the seabed.
In desperation, archaeologists can only take the risk, dig out the silt at the bottom of the ship, and after the Nanhai No. 1 is completely placed in the container, it is also necessary to ensure that every steel beam on the seabed is tightly sewn and not squeezed and deformed by the seawater. After multi-faceted tests and simulations by the archaeological team, on December 21, 2007, Nanhai 1 successfully broke off the water surface and held a dehydration ceremony.
Third, the reason why the hull of the South China Sea No. 1 is not corrupt
The total weight of the South China Sea No. 1 shipwreck was more than 3,000 tons when it was salvaged, and according to experts, the reason for the sinking of the Nanhai No. 1 was most likely overloaded, and the ship sank due to serious drafts. Compared with the reasons for its sinking, the world wants to know more about why the South China Sea One was able to sink the seabed for 800 years, still incorruptible, and the hull is well preserved.
Relevant experts have made an explanation for the reasons for its non-decay, Nanhai No. 1 is located on the seabed, surrounded by silt, good sealing, belongs to a low-oxygen environment, microorganisms are not easy to survive, which is one of the reasons why nanhai no. 1 is completely preserved, and another major reason is because nanhai no. 1 is made of masson pine wood, pine wood is an excellent wood for making ships, there has always been a "blister millennium pine" saying, in the natural environment and the good sealing properties of the pine tomb under the dual action, the South China Sea No. 1 can be preserved underwater for 800 years.
4. Summary
Cultural relics are treasures in the history of human development, and they have witnessed the years that have long since dissipated like smoke. The number of cultural relics owned by a country represents the strength of a country to a certain extent, and in the development of our country for thousands of years, the ancestors have left us countless treasures. And some treasures have been lost overseas for various reasons, the successful excavation of the Nanhai No. 1 is a miracle that cannot be copied by the archaeological community, which not only proves China's major breakthrough in technology and the strength of the archaeological community, but also shows our country's determination to protect cultural relics.