On March 2, the largest overall salvage and protection project of an ancient shipwreck in mainland China, the Yangtze River Estuary No. 2 Ancient Ship Archaeology and Cultural Relics Protection Project, was officially launched in Shanghai. At this point, the ancient ship no. 2 at the mouth of the Yangtze River has been sealed for nearly eight years since its discovery, and finally lifted the veil of mystery. It is reported that the underwater archaeological operation to salvage the "Yangtze River Estuary No. 2" ancient ship is expected to be completed within 2022.
After salvaging the Yangtze River Estuary No. 2 ancient ship, it will be relocated to the former site of Yangpu Binjiang Shanghai Shipyard for archaeology and protection, and make 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. In the future, the old dock, which is a historical building, will be "gorgeously transformed" into an archaeological base for shipwrecks and an ancient ship museum. Archaeologists will gradually uncover the many unsolved mysteries of this ancient shipwreck of the Qing Dynasty here. 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.
Throughout the ages, in the busy route and complex waters of the Yangtze River estuary in Shanghai, countless underwater treasures and unsolved mysteries have been buried. Carrying out the archaeology, protection and museum construction of the Yangtze River Estuary No. 2 ancient ship is the world's first project of archaeological excavation, overall relocation, cultural relics protection and museum construction and display of ancient ships.
Yangtze River Estuary No. 2 ancient ship promotional video
Discovery of wooden ancient shipwrecks
Since 2011, the Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Cultural Heritage has launched a census of underwater cultural heritage, and collected more than 150 clues to underwater cultural relics in the waters of the Yangtze River Estuary through land surveys and visits, access to literature and other means. However, for a long time, the muddy water environment has been the bottleneck in the development of underwater archaeology in China, and the waters of the Yangtze River estuary in Shanghai are particularly prominent. To this end, the Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Cultural Heritage organized a number of professional institutions to jointly tackle key problems, independently developed the "underwater imaging device for muddy waters", developed "key technologies and applications of robot underwater archaeological equipment", and used unmanned boats, multi-beam, side-scan sonar, shallow stratigraph profiler and magnetometer and other marine geophysical survey equipment to carry out joint underwater surveys of the waters of the Yangtze River Estuary.
In 2015, a relatively well-preserved iron shipwreck was found in the waters of Chongming Hengsha, with the archaeological number "Yangtze River Estuary No. 1". Subsequently, another large and well-preserved wooden ancient shipwreck was found in the north of the shipwreck, with the archaeological number "Yangtze River Estuary No. 2".
Schematic diagram of the location of the No. 2 ancient ship at the mouth of the Yangtze River
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), and the ship type is suspected to be a flat-bottomed sand boat widely used in Shanghai during the Ming and Qing dynasties.
The water depth of the ancient ship is 8-10 meters, the hull is buried in 5.5 meters of deep silt, the horizontal left tilt is about 27 °, the length of the residual is about 38.5 meters, the width of the remnant is about 7.8 meters, and 31 cabins have been detected. At present, a large number of exquisite cultural relics such as Jingdezhen kiln porcelain have been found in the cabin, and purple sand ware, hookah pots produced in Vietnam, wooden bucket fragments, and Yuan Dynasty porcelain have been excavated around the hull. In particular, some of the ancient ships have a water porcelain bottom book "Tongzhi Year System", which provides an important basis for the dating of ancient ships.
Yangtze River Estuary No. 2 ancient ship out of the water cultural relics
A precious cultural heritage
Yangtze River Estuary No. 2 ancient ship, following the discovery of the Guangdong Song Dynasty "Nanhai No. 1" shipwreck 35 years ago, another milestone in China's underwater archaeology, is currently one of the largest domestic and even worldwide found, the most complete preservation, is expected to carry a huge number of cultural relics on board one of the ancient wooden shipwrecks, enough to support the construction of a world-influential ancient ship museum, is a precious cultural heritage, with extremely important historical, scientific and artistic value.
Ancient ship BV5000 composite diagram
The Yangtze River Estuary No. 2 ancient ship is a physical witness to Shanghai's use as a trade and shipping center in East Asia and even the world in modern times, filling an important gap for the discovery of large wooden shipwrecks in this historical period of the mainland. Its discovery fully reflects the historical significance and practical role of archaeological work in the history of matter and the enhancement of credibility with history, enriches the important connotation of the construction of the "Belt and Road", "marine power" and the yangtze River culture, strengthens the "four major functions" of Shanghai, deepens the construction of the "five centers", and enhances the soft power of the city, and has a very important scientific value for the study of shipbuilding history, science and technology history, maritime traffic history, ceramic history, economic history and other disciplines in China and even the world. It is one of the important symbols of China's underwater archaeology to enter the world-class level.
The world's first technical solution salvage
Since the Yangtze River Estuary No. 2 ancient ship was seriously washed by the current and the hull faced a serious security threat, the Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Cultural Relics, after fully listening to the expert opinions and assessing the risks faced by the shipwreck, decided to take the overall salvage method for the Yangtze River Estuary No. 2 ancient ship to protect this precious underwater cultural heritage to the greatest extent. In October 2021, the General Office of the State Council issued the "14th Five-Year Plan for the Protection of Cultural Relics and Scientific and Technological Innovation", which included the No. 2 ancient ship at the mouth of the Yangtze River in China as a major project in underwater archaeology in China. After 15 years of "Nanhai No. 1", the mainland has once again carried out an overall salvage of underwater ancient shipwrecks.
Top view of multi-beam sonar
The Shanghai Salvage Bureau of the Ministry of Transport, which is responsible for the salvage of the ancient ship, will use the world's first technical solution - "Arc Beam Non-contact Cultural Relics Overall Migration Technology" to salvage this ancient shipwreck, relying on China's high-end manufacturing capabilities, which can maximize the protection of the originality and integrity of underwater cultural heritage. Previously, the Shanghai Salvage Bureau had successfully completed the offshore equal proportion salvage trial using the technology in January this year, and planned to complete the salvage and relocation tasks by the end of 2022.
Simulation of the No. 2 ancient ship at the mouth of the Yangtze River
Shanghai will benchmark the highest international standards and the best level, insist on leaving the best resources to the people, and build the Yangtze River Estuary No. 2 Ancient Ship Museum into an ancient ship museum with world influence, a global research center for underwater archaeology, a display window for the international shipping and trade center, and a cultural landmark of the People's City "Life Show Belt", so that more citizens and tourists can experience the charm of underwater archaeology, understand the depth of Chinese civilization, and feel the warmth of the people's city.
In the near future
This ancient ship will "settle down" in Yangpu
Friends of the citizens
Let's look forward to it!
Editor: Wu Baixin
Source: Xinhua News Agency, Leyou Shanghai
*Please indicate that the reprint is from the official WeChat of Yangpu, Shanghai