On March 2, the yangtze river estuary no. 2 ancient ship archaeology and cultural relics protection project, the largest overall salvage and protection project of an ancient shipwreck in the mainland so far, was launched in Shanghai, lifting the mystery of the ancient ship No. 2 at the Yangtze River Estuary that has been sealed for many years since its discovery.
The reporter learned that as early as December 22, 2016, a hull wood of the Yangtze River Estuary No. 2 ancient ship found during the trial salvage stage was "deposited" in the Chongming District Museum.
The yangtze River Estuary No. 2 ancient ship is a wooden sailing vessel, which is confirmed to be dated to the Tongzhi period of the Qing Dynasty, and the ship type is suspected to be a flat-bottomed sand boat widely used in Shanghai for transportation on the water during the Ming and Qing dynasties. The waters where the ancient ship is located are 8 meters to 10 meters deep, the hull is buried in 5.5 meters deep silt, the length of the wreckage 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, the "Tongzhi Year System" section of the bottom book of some of the porcelain in the ancient ship provides an important basis for the dating of the ancient ship.
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 largest, most completely preserved, and one of the ancient wooden shipwrecks with a huge number of expected shipboard cultural relics found in China and even in the world, and is a precious cultural heritage. This archaeology is also an important symbol of China's underwater archaeology entering the world-class level.
On the monument gallery of the Chongming District Museum lies an opaque sink with a dried piece of wood inside. Just by taking a cursory look, how could we have imagined that this seemingly ordinary piece of wood had "crossed" nearly 150 years and appeared in front of us? Feng Xidan, deputy director of the Chongming District Museum, still remembers the scene when the trailer carried it into the museum - that was the first time he saw such a long car, loaded with 22 meters of "Yangtze River Estuary No. 2" wooden components all the way into the monument corridor, so that the wood that had just come out of the water carefully "landed". Nowadays, a closer look at the wood reveals traces of shellfish attachment, which at the time was covered with moss, algae and shellfish inlays.
According to Feng Xidan's recollection, after the archaeological team found the "Yangtze River Estuary No. 2" in the Hengsha waters, it was urgent to find a place in shanghai where wooden components could be placed and salvaged, and the Chongming District Museum was selected precisely because of the large site and the need to meet the needs of cultural relics and wood technology protection. Over the years, it is not that no one has complained that this wood hinders normal visits, but the staff in the museum has not explained much: the archaeological team has not yet completed the "exploration" in the archaeological sense, and the popularization of science to the public can only be postponed.
The requirements for the protection of cultural relics science and technology are demanding, and the whole team needs to cooperate tacitly. The wood that has just been salvaged from the sea has a high salt content, such as direct exposure in a dry environment, and the remaining salt will damage the inside of the wood, so the Chongming District Museum reinstalled a faucet in the monument gallery to create a water storage environment for the wooden components, change the water regularly, and carry out a year-long "salt replacement" process. Although the air drying process is controllable, the archaeological team is still worried about the destruction of organisms such as termite moth wood, so the museum will also let the staff check every day whether there are "unknown creatures" "nesting and nesting" on the wood.
Scientific protection is continuous and uninterrupted. For many years, a researcher would rush from downtown Shanghai to Chongming every week to observe the state of the wood and ensure its integrity through data records. Dr. Zhao Jie, a staff member in charge of specific protection, told reporters: "The reason why we pay attention to its protection is because after the overall salvage of the ancient ship is completed, this wood will be installed back to its original position, restore the original appearance of the ancient ship, and the physical data can help restore the archives and examine the history of the time." ”
It is understood that before the wooden components are officially returned to the No. 2 ancient ship at the mouth of the Yangtze River, citizens and tourists can see the true appearance of antiquities at the Chongming District Museum.