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Sun Jian, deputy director of the Archaeological Research Center of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, talks about "Yangtze River Estuary No. 2". Editor Lu Linhan (02:10)
French historian Fernand Braudel once said: "It is not the sea that connects the land, it is the seafarers", the sea occupies 71% of the earth's surface, the land accounts for only 29% of the area, in China, the land area has 9.6 million square kilometers, the sea area has 4 million square kilometers.
On November 21, the successful salvage of the No. 2 ancient ship at the mouth of the Yangtze River made the public focus on underwater archaeology again. The Paper recently interviewed Sun Jian, Deputy Director of the Archaeological Research Center of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, and invited him to talk about underwater archaeology and heritage protection.
"From the information available so far, it is preliminarily judged that this ship may be a sand ship. Sand boats first originated in the Tang Dynasty and were first used in the area of Chongming, today's Shanghai. The appearance of the real sand ship should be in the Ming Jiajing period, and the age of this shipwreck we set it in the Tongzhi period, just in the three thousand years of Chinese history has not seen the great changes, if the Silk Road is regarded as a line, China is at one end of the Silk Road, then this ship in a regional trade system at one end of the Silk Road, Shanghai as the core point of foreign export or foreign exchanges at that time, this shipwreck has a lot to study and pay attention to. Sun Jian said.
Xisha underwater survey (Sun Jian photo below)
The Paper: What is the specific definition of underwater cultural heritage? We conduct an annual census of cultural relics on land, what is the distribution of underwater cultural heritage in our country, and is there a comprehensive survey of underwater cultural heritage?
Sun Jian: UNESCO formally adopted the Convention on the Protection of Underwater Cultural Heritage at the 31st session of its General Conference. The Convention defines underwater cultural heritage as all remains of cultural, historical or archaeological value of all human existence that have been located underwater periodically or continuously, partly or wholly, for at least 100 years. Nowadays, our concept of underwater cultural heritage is becoming more and more broad, and some relics that are less than 100 years old in modern times, such as those related to major historical activities during World War II, can also be recognized as underwater cultural heritage.
2014-2015 Survey of sunken warships in the Sino-Japanese naval battle
There are many types of underwater cultural heritage, some of which have been submerged under the sea due to geographical changes in the vicissitudes of the sea, such as the "Dongshan Land Bridge" in the Taiwan Strait of China, which was once a "bridge" connecting the two shores, but due to climate warming and sea level rise, it was submerged at the bottom of the sea; Some land relics are submerged underwater due to the artificial construction of dams and reservoirs, such as the underwater ancient city of Qiandao Lake in Zhejiang; There are also natural disasters such as earthquakes, such as Alexandria in Egypt, because of the Great Flood, the entire Old Port of Alexandria was buried underwater; Of course, shipwrecks are also the most significant, famous and familiar type of site, accounting for most of the content of underwater cultural relics resources.
"Nanao No. 1" Ming Dynasty shipwreck
The "South Australia One" protection framework
The census of our underwater cultural heritage is currently underway and is also a key task for us at this stage, which is clearly written into the 14th Five-Year Archaeological Work Plan of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage. Unlike the census of cultural relics on land, the scope and efficiency of people's activities under the water are much lower, in addition to verifying existing clues, such as by consulting archival documents, the other is to visit, such as folk activities, whether fishermen have accidentally discovered. Another means now is to cooperate with sea-related departments such as the Oceanic Administration, and when they conduct sea area surveys, they also include cultural relics and share information in a timely manner.
Zhejiang Qiandao Lake underwater ancient city (source: network)
Underwater sonar map of Junzhou City, Hubei Province
Even so, because of the vast area of the sea, the scope of each survey is limited. We delineate different areas, such as from the perspective of documentation, historical routes, and which areas are most likely to contain underwater remains. For example, at the mouth of the Yangtze River in Shanghai, it is an important shipping route, and a large number of ships pass through here, so this area will be investigated as a key sea area. For example, we are doing the Pingtan sea area in Fujian, which used to be the Maritime Silk Road and the north-south traffic artery, and we will carry out gridded, full-coverage key surveys in this sea area, continue to do it, and then connect with other sea areas to strive to do a comprehensive survey of China's coastal waters.
The cabin of the shipwreck "Nanhai I"
Up to now, we have mastered more than 200 shipwreck sites, and some of them are in inland waters, such as Poyang Lake and the Grand Canal have found many famous shipwrecks, such as Taicang Yuan Dynasty ancient ships, Shandong Liuzi Canal ruins found in this case.
The Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage sets out the principles of protection in situ, minimal intervention, respect for human remains and sacrificial remains, public awareness and education. The Convention conveys the same idea as our land archaeology, which does not mean that sites such as shipwrecks must be excavated. Where conditions are not available, we encourage in situ conservation, especially for underwater heritage, and in many cases we encourage harmless access for spectators. You can go to see, because diving was difficult for decades ago, and it is getting easier and easier today, with the development of science and technology, it will be easier, so that the public can go to see and experience, such as in Italy, Greece, the submerged Roman estate, by archaeologists, cultural relics protection experts to restore and restore, and even salvage the bronze sculpture, do a good job of protection and restoration treatment and then put it back in place, so that the audience can observe and experience the underwater cultural heritage of different periods up close. Or these civilizations created by early mankind.
So the most important work is actually the census of cultural relics? Only by having comprehensive information can we be prepared for future protection work.
The Paper: Modern archaeology in China has gone through a hundred years of development, and what kind of development has underwater archaeology experienced in the 35 years since its birth? What is the current level of development of underwater archaeology in our country?
Sun Jian: Underwater archaeology in China started in the late 1980s, when two events served as the trigger. One event was that in 1986, the Englishman Mike Hatcher publicly auctioned porcelain and gold salvaged from shipwrecks in the South China Sea in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and the Cultural Relics Administration of the Ministry of Culture sent Feng Xianming and Geng Baochang, ceramics experts from the Palace Museum, to the Netherlands to inspect the auction. Stimulated by this incident, they returned and wrote a report entitled "Mainland Ceramics Experts Recommend Paying Attention to Underwater Archaeology", proposing to carry out underwater archaeology related work in China. Coincidentally, a year later, Nanhai No. 1 was discovered. In 1986, the British Maritime Salvage Company cooperated with the Guangzhou Salvage Bureau to salvage the shipwreck of the "Rheinburg". As a result, the "Rheinburg" was not found, and the "Nanhai No. 1" was found, and we subsequently suspended the Sino-British joint salvage.
At that time, the China Underwater Archaeology Center had just been established and did not have the ability to salvage and rescue the remains of the seabed. Stimulated by these two events, it is equivalent to giving birth to China's underwater archaeological work.
Mr. Yu Weichao, the founder of underwater archaeology in China and the founder of underwater archaeology
This brings us to Mr. Yu Weichao, the director of the China Museum of History at that time, who was the pioneer of underwater archaeology in China and the founder of underwater archaeology. He founded the Laboratory of Underwater Archaeology in 1987. At that time, under the background of no talent and no technology, the State Administration of Cultural Heritage sent personnel to the Netherlands and Japan to learn diving technology and underwater archaeology.
Speaking of this, I have to mention the naming of "Nanhai I", when China had just carried out underwater archaeology work, Mr. Yu was the leader of the Sino-Japanese joint South China Sea underwater survey team, did not use the principle of minimum geographical names, the use of I number is to hope that underwater archaeology can develop and grow, 1, 2, 3... New discoveries and developments are constantly being made. It's an expectation. Mr. Yu is an amazing archaeologist.
When we first came into contact with underwater archaeology, we took the approach of inviting people in and out, on the one hand, we invited Professor Shozo Tanabe, director of the Institute of Underwater Archaeology of Japan, to come and teach, and on the other hand, we sent people to the Netherlands and the United States to study. In 1989, in cooperation with the University of Adelaide and the Western Australian Maritime Museum, we held the first training course for underwater archaeology professionals in China and Australia, with a total of 11 people, and such a preliminary underwater archaeology team was established.
Our first underwater archaeological work was in 1990 when Australia cooperated to conduct an underwater archaeological survey in Dingwan, Fujian. In 1991~1997, the excavation of the Yuan Dynasty shipwreck in Suizhong Sandaogang was an underwater archaeological excavation independently done by our country with its own strength, and it was a major event in China's underwater archaeology. Later, in 1999, we held a second underwater archaeology training course, so that our underwater archaeology team gradually grew.
1998-1999 Geophysical survey of Jiaozhou Bay, Shandong
Archaeological excavation of the shipwreck of "Huaguangjiao No. 1" in the Xisha Sea
Our country's underwater archaeology undertaking can be said to have undergone a process from small to large, from weak to strong, and has been at the forefront of the world. For example, we have a stable team of underwater archaeology professionals and underwater heritage conservation professionals. It has specialized archaeological work ships and several underwater archaeological research bases. At the same time, the investigation and excavation of underwater cultural heritage has also achieved remarkable and fruitful results, such as the Nanhai I shipwreck, the Huaguangjiao No. 1 shipwreck, the Nanao No. 1 shipwreck, the bowl jiao shipwreck No. 1, the Xiaobaijiao No. 1 shipwreck, and the ancient ship No. 2 at the mouth of the Yangtze River currently being excavated.
We are now also doing deep-sea archaeology, that is, with the help of the "deep-sea warrior" deep submersible, ROV to carry out deep-sea archaeology, but its cost and cost are very high. The same is true abroad, for example, France's "Run to the Moon" deep-sea experimental archaeology program also carries out kilometers of deep-sea archaeology, and we also do kilometer deep-sea archaeology work in Xisha Islands.
The Paper: What is the current underwater archaeology team and talent training path in our country? With more than 30 years of underwater archaeology practice, can you tell us about your personal experience?
Sun Jian: Since 1989, our country has held the first training course for underwater archaeology professionals, and so far it has held nine sessions, training more than 200 professional underwater archaeology team members. Among them, the first few phases of the training of the archaeological team, as their age, including the change of the nature of the job, the real front line engaged in underwater archaeology work is only about 80~100 people, and they often undertake field archaeological work.
Most of the participants in the training course are people who already have a professional background in archaeology, so that they have been trained in diving skills to engage in underwater archaeology. It is difficult to train a diver to become an archaeology expert, but it is relatively easier to teach an archaeological expert to dive, which is the main way countries train underwater archaeologists.
Underwater archaeology can actually be seen as an extension of field archaeology in the water, and their methodology is actually the same. The training course for underwater archaeology professionals mainly involves two aspects of content training, one is diving training and the other is operational training. Business training is mainly to be familiar with some underwater archaeological work skills, the tools used, the geophysical survey methods used, and even some changes in research fields.
Underwater cleanup of the Nanhai I wreck
In my opinion, underwater archaeology is not mysterious, it is just an ordinary job, and we cannot mystify and sanctify underwater archaeology work. Perhaps diving was a difficult thing before, but now it is becoming easier and easier, including the appearance of artificial gills in the future, you can get oxygen directly from the water, and diving will be easier.
I always think that the progress of science and technology will change everything, we used to say that an essential condition for underwater archaeologists is to be able to dive and be able to operate in the field, but with the extensive use of ROV underwater robots, AUV unmanned autonomous submersibles and even deep submersibles, many archaeologists no longer need to go underwater, we can work through ROV robotic arms and through various means. This is a good thing for underwater archaeology. Because real diving is very limited in time to do archaeological work underwater, the efficiency will be very low, and the time spent underwater is usually measured in minutes at different water depths. With the help of scientific and technological means, archaeologists can spend more energy and attention on the research of cultural relics from the water. Like some underwater archaeologists in Italy and France, they have shifted their fields and interests more to research, and diving is only an auxiliary means, it is not a decisive means.
The Paper: Can you tell us about how you felt when you were diving underwater archaeology?
Jian Sun: I enjoyed this feeling when I was younger. When diving, there will be a sense of freedom and relaxation, especially when the water environment is good, like astronauts have to carry out diving training, because in the water environment you are in a state of zero buoyancy.
French deep-sea documentary "The Silent World" (Source: Internet)
France's most famous maritime explorer, Jacques. Eve. Cousteau's deep-sea documentary "Le monde du silence" uses clear and realistic images and dazzling colors to show the underwater world that humans have never reached in the past. The film talks about the joy of flying freely in the water. Of course, this is the dive itself, as an underwater archaeologist, when you touch the real history by working underwater, this feeling is different.
The Paper: The ancient ship of "Yangtze River Estuary No. 2" is the first time that the mainland has carried out the overall salvage of underwater ancient shipwrecks after 15 years of overall salvage of "Nanhai No. 1". What are the differences between the two? Shanghai also has rich underwater cultural relics resources, how should its underwater heritage protection go?
Sun Jian: At present, there are three main ways to salvage underwater shipwreck archaeology in the world: one is to disassemble and salvage the wreck after extracting the cultural relics on board; the second is to use cofferdam pumping water for archaeological excavations and then salvage the shipwreck; The third is the special caisson to salvage the shipwreck, cultural relics and the surrounding seawater and sediment in their original state. The specific salvage method to use should be designed according to different site types and characteristics. "Nanhai I" is a Song Dynasty merchant ship, full of cargo, at that time we also designed two schemes, one is underwater excavation, but the Chinese coastal waters have high turbidity, low underwater visibility, the use of underwater excavation will lose a lot of important information, so finally decided to adopt the overall salvage method. "Nanhai No. 1" made a square caisson at that time, closed it from the bottom with a steel beam, and then lifted it as a whole. The ancient ship "Yangtze River Estuary No. 2" adopts the world's first technical solution "arc beam non-contact cultural relics overall migration technology". Compared with the Nanhai I ancient ship, it has further innovated in engineering technology, fully demonstrating the significant improvement of the mainland's underwater archaeology and underwater cultural heritage protection capabilities.
In 2007, the "Nanhai I" wreck was salvaged as a whole
There are two suggestions for the protection of Shanghai's underwater cultural heritage, one is to continue to carry out investigation work in key waters and strive to make new discoveries. As China's most important foreign trade port, Shanghai has a history of nearly 200 years and should have a large underwater cultural heritage. Strengthen the mapping of underwater cultural heritage and its distribution in order to prepare for future conservation efforts.
Secondly, the technical protection of ancient ships similar to "Yangtze River Estuary No. 2" is carried out, because the protection of cultural relics is very difficult, Shanghai has accumulated rich experience in this regard, and believes that it can provide experience for the protection of other similar shipwrecks and cultural relics out of the water in the future, not only to absorb the experience of others, but also to provide experience to others.
The Paper: From the information we have so far, can we basically speculate about the nature and route of the No. 2 ancient ship at the mouth of the Yangtze River? How do you evaluate the significance of the salvage of the ancient ship "Yangtze River Estuary No. 2"?
Sun Jian: From the information available so far, it is preliminarily judged that this boat may be a sand ship. Sand boats first originated in the Tang Dynasty and were first used in the area of Chongming, today's Shanghai. The appearance of the real sand ship should be during the Ming Jiajing period, and the age of this shipwreck we set it in the Tongzhi period, just in the three thousand years of Chinese history unprecedented in the great change, mechanical power or modern ships began to replace sailing ships, Chinese sailing ships are still tenaciously operating during this period. Judging from the current nature of the cargo, it is likely to take a navigation route from the Yangtze River estuary system of China's internal waters to the northern Northeast Asian region; From the point of view of its water artifacts, northern China, including Tianjin, Liaoning and even North Korea have similar artifacts, if the Silk Road is regarded as a line, China is at one end of the Silk Road, then this ship is at the end of the Silk Road in a regional trade system, Shanghai as the core point of foreign export or foreign exchanges at that time, many inland goods are to be imported into different regions through the mouth of the Yangtze River, through sand boats, and then from the northeast to bring different beans, oil crops back to Shanghai, This is how to complete a cycle, which is very interesting, and many shipwrecks that we have done before are routes and sailing methods to the Indian Ocean and Southeast Asia. This shipwreck has a lot to study.
2022 "Yangtze River Estuary No. 2" wreck salvage Vigorous and Endeavor ship
I think the discovery of the No. 2 ancient ship at the mouth of the Yangtze River has roughly the following significance: First, the discovery of the ancient ship No. 2 at the mouth of the Yangtze River is through a planned census of cultural relics, which has been investigated for many years, and is one of the results of a comprehensive underwater heritage census in accordance with our country. For archaeology in our country, the most important thing now is to find out the scope of underwater cultural heritage, the amount of current state of preservation. Second, the archaeology of the No. 2 ancient ship at the mouth of the Yangtze River is a good example of underwater archaeology through the use of a large number of scientific and technological means, whether it is the preliminary survey to some data collection, a large number of scientific equipment in water depth, and the increase of scientific and technological empowerment. This excavation is not only an archaeological work, it has made comprehensive considerations and comprehensive arrangements from archaeology to protection to display and utilization, which is also an improvement. Third, the ancient ship No. 2 at the mouth of the Yangtze River is of great significance for the study of the economic history and social changes of modern China in the late Qing Dynasty. Secondly, for the study of maritime history and shipbuilding history, even if it is said that China's traditional shipbuilding technology is gradually declining and gradually withdrawing from the historical stage, it still provides a rare specimen.