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Source: CCTV news client
On the morning of March 2, the archaeological and cultural relics protection project of the No. 2 ancient ship in the Yangtze River Estuary, the largest overall salvage and protection project of the ancient shipwreck in the mainland, was officially launched in Shanghai.
Archaeological finds
The Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Cultural Heritage has launched a census of underwater cultural heritage since 2011, and in 2015, when carrying out a key underwater archaeological survey in the Chongming Hengsha waters of the Yangtze River Estuary, a relatively well-preserved iron shipwreck was found, with the archaeological number "Yangtze River Estuary No. 1". After underwater archaeological diving exploration, it was confirmed that the shipwreck was an iron warship of the Republic of China period. Subsequently, archaeologists expanded the scope of surveying and exploration, and found another large and well-preserved wooden ancient shipwreck in the north of the shipwreck, the archaeological number is "Yangtze River Estuary No. 2". Since then, the archaeological work of the No. 2 ancient ship at the mouth of the Yangtze River has begun.
△ Schematic map of the location of the No. 2 ancient ship at the mouth of the Yangtze River
Underwater probing
After more than six years of underwater archaeological investigation and exploration, the basic situation of the No. 2 ancient ship at the mouth of the Yangtze River has been preliminarily explored. The Yangtze River Estuary No. 2 ancient ship is a wooden sailing vessel, confirmed to be dated to the Tongzhi period of the Qing Dynasty (1862-1875 AD), the water depth is 8-10 meters, the hull is buried in 5.5 meters deep silt, and the horizontal left tilt is about 27 °. The length of the ancient ship is about 38.5 meters, the width of the ship is about 7.8 meters, and 31 cabins have been discovered. The upper part of the wreck has a complete structure, such as the pointed bow, pile, main mast, left and right sides, and upper deck. Judging from the current survey situation, the ancient ship type is suspected to be a flat-bottomed sand boat widely used in Shanghai during the Ming and Qing dynasties.
Through the selection of 4 cabins before and after the small-scale cleaning, it was found that there were exquisite cultural relics such as Jingdezhen kiln porcelain that were neatly stacked in the cabin, and there were many types and large numbers of cultural relics that had been completely or repaired. In addition, a large number of cultural relics such as purple sand ware, hookah canisters from Vietnam, wooden bucket fragments, masts, large hardwood ship timber, iron anchors, brown cables, pulleys, metal drill bits, drill pipes and black minerals have been unearthed in and around the hull.
△ Cultural relics unearthed in 2018
△ Tongzhi year made green glaze cup bottom
The Yangtze River Estuary No. 2 ancient ship is another milestone major discovery in China's underwater archaeology after the "Nanhai No. 1" shipwreck of the Song Dynasty in Guangdong Province discovered 35 years ago, and is one of the ancient wooden shipwrecks with the largest volume, the most complete preservation and the estimated number of ship-borne cultural relics found in China and even in the world, with extremely important historical, scientific and artistic value.
Salvage migration
In recent years, underwater archaeological surveys have shown that the Yangtze River Estuary No. 2 ancient ship has been seriously washed by the current, especially with the change of the flow direction of the Yangtze River estuary, resulting in the acceleration of the ancient ship to expose the surface of the riverbed, and the hull of the ship is facing a serious safety threat. In order to prevent the natural and man-made destruction of the Yangtze River Estuary No. 2 ancient ship, it is necessary to salvage the water as soon as possible and move it into a fixed place for archaeological excavation, cultural relics protection, research and display and utilization.
In October 2021, the Yangtze River Estuary No. 2 ancient ship was listed as a major project in underwater archaeology in China. After many considerations, this time will take the overall salvage method, using the world's first technical solution - "arc beam non-contact cultural relics overall migration technology" to salvage the Yangtze River Estuary No. 2 ancient ship, to maximize the protection of this precious underwater cultural heritage. Previously, the "Nanhai No. 1" was salvaged in December 2007, which was the second time after a gap of 15 years that the mainland had carried out an overall salvage of underwater ancient shipwrecks.
In January this year, the Shanghai Salvage Bureau has successfully completed the offshore equal proportion salvage test using this technology. At that time, 22 giant "arc beams" will be driven by the top-entry transmitter frame to form a huge arc-shaped caisson at the bottom of the Yangtze River Estuary No. 2 ancient ship, the caisson is 51 meters long, 19 meters wide and 9 meters high, which can wrap the Yangtze River Estuary No. 2 ancient ship and its attached thick sediment and seawater, plus the weight of the salvage equipment itself, the total weight of the caisson is nearly 10,000 tons.
△ Offshore equal proportion salvage test site
The overall salvage and migration project of the Yangtze River Estuary No. 2 ancient ship integrates the world's most advanced salvage technology, technical route and equipment manufacturing in one, such a high-tech program can protect the originality and integrity of underwater cultural heritage to the greatest extent and ensure the safety of cultural relics.
After the caisson came out of the water, in order to successfully escort the Yangtze River Estuary No. 2 ancient ship to the Huangpu Riverside storage site, the Shanghai Salvage Bureau also tailored a "central opening" engineering ship for the caisson, and the caisson could be tightly embedded in its open middle. The construction vessel will then sail to its destination. According to the plan, the Yangtze River Estuary No. 2 ancient ship is expected to complete the salvage and relocation task by the end of 2022.
Protect exploitation
The yangtze River Estuary No. 2 ancient ship is extremely well preserved and the number of cultural relics on board is large, which is enough to support the construction of an ancient ship museum with great world influence. The No. 2 Ancient Ship Museum at the mouth of the Yangtze River has been listed as a major public cultural and sports facilities construction project in Shanghai in the "14th Five-Year Plan". At present, the Shanghai Municipal Party Committee and Municipal Government have officially decided to choose the site of Yangpu Binjiang Shanghai Shipyard, making full use of the two old docks and preserved historical buildings to prepare for the construction of the Yangtze River Estuary No. 2 Ancient Ship Museum. At the same time, it will also be a living museum, which can simultaneously carry out archaeological excavations, cultural relics protection and display education, as well as archaeological and intangible cultural heritage living experiences, and scientific research on international underwater cultural heritage.
(Reporter Zhang Qian, Zha Lingyun)