Cui Yong: Why is China's "Nanhai I" called an unprecedented model of underwater archaeology?

The excavation of "Nanhai I" was more detailed than most land-based archaeological excavations. No country in the world can achieve underwater archaeological measurements accurate to millimeters.

Source: China News Service (CNS1952)

Author: Sun Qiuxia

Total number of characters: 2752

Estimated reading time: 9 minutes

The ancient Southern Song Dynasty shipwreck discovered at the "Nanhai I" site is the most well-preserved ocean-going merchant ship with the largest number of cultural relics ever found in China, with a history of more than 800 years. It took more than 30 years from the first discovery of the shipwreck in 1987 to the completion of the archaeological excavation.

The successful salvage of the "Nanhai I" has witnessed the development of China's underwater archaeology from scratch to becoming a world leader. At present, the "Nanhai I" has been promoted globally as a classic case recommended by UNESCO and has become the pride of China's underwater archaeology community.

What are the stories behind the excavation and protection of "Nanhai No. 1"? What are the references for underwater archaeology in the world? Cui Yong, deputy director of the Guangdong Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, one of the first underwater archaeologists in China, and leader of the archaeological excavation of "Nanhai No. 1", recently accepted an exclusive interview with China News Service's "East and West Questions" and made an in-depth interpretation.

The scene of the "Nanhai I" emerging from the water, photographed in 2007. Photo provided by the interviewee

The following is a summary of the interview transcript:

China News Service: In 1987, a British maritime exploration and salvage company accidentally discovered a Chinese shipwreck, the "Nanhai I", while searching for the "Rheinberg" in the South China Sea. Why is this shipwreck considered the origin of China's underwater archaeology?

Cui Yong: Before the establishment of the British Maritime Exploration and Salvage Company, a Western maritime pirate named Mike Hatcher salvaged a shipwreck named "Godmarson" in the South China Sea. There were many blue-and-white porcelains from the reign of Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty in the shipwreck, which he auctioned publicly. At that time, the Palace Museum sent two experts with 30,000 US dollars to participate in the auction, but they did not even have a chance to raise their hands. The entire auction process stimulated the Chinese archaeological community and attracted the attention of the country, which made China determined to establish its own underwater archaeological institution.

In 1987, the National Museum of China established the Underwater Archaeology Research Center. Just at this point, the British Maritime Exploration and Salvage Company and the Guangzhou Salvage Bureau at that time found a sunken ship. With a grab bucket, they grabbed 247 artifacts, including gold necklaces, silver ingots, etc. This was inconsistent with the list provided by the British Maritime Exploration and Salvage Company to the Guangzhou Salvage Bureau. The Chinese person in charge on the ship was quite sensitive at the time and pointed out that this was not the "Rheinburg" they were looking for, and promptly stopped the grab bucket from continuing to take objects. This saved a national treasure-level sunken ship for China, namely the "Nanhai I". Therefore, this ship also became the origin of China's underwater archaeological work.

The scene of the "Nanhai I" emerging from the water, photographed in 2007. Photo provided by the interviewee

China News Service reporter: After the discovery of "Nanhai I", what plans and arrangements did China make to carry out underwater archaeological work?

Cui Yong: At that time, the country adopted two methods, "sending out" and "inviting in", and successively sent young scholars from the State Administration of Cultural Heritage and the National Museum to the Netherlands and Japan to study underwater archaeology. At the same time, Japanese underwater archaeology professors also came to China to give lectures. In 1989, the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, the National Museum and the University of Adelaide in Australia jointly organized the first underwater archaeology training course in China, selecting 11 people from across the country to participate in the training, and I also participated in it. After the training, we mastered the basic knowledge and technology of underwater archaeology. In 1990, the State Administration of Cultural Heritage issued a certificate of completion, making us the first batch of certified personnel of the Chinese underwater archaeology team.

During this period, many foreign salvage companies hoped to cooperate with China to salvage the "Nanhai I". In November 1989, China and Japan formed a joint investigation team to prepare for a comprehensive survey of the "Nanhai I". The sea conditions were very bad during this period, and it cost 270,000 yuan in three days. Since the conditions for excavating the "Nanhai I" were not mature enough, we temporarily put it on hold and started with a small project. In 1991, a Yuan Dynasty shipwreck was discovered in Sandaogang, Suizhong, Liaoning. We organized a team to conduct an investigation there and set up a workstation. Chinese underwater archaeologists have been doing excavation and investigation work on this ship from 1992 to 1997, and have accumulated a lot of underwater archaeological experience. In 1996, we went to Xisha to do a shipwreck excavation, accumulated experience in ocean investigation, and also proved that China's underwater archaeology has gradually matured.

In August 2019, staff members of the "Nanhai I" archaeological team carried out desalination treatment on the cultural relics recovered from the sunken ship. Photo by Chen Jimin, a reporter from China News Service

China News Service reporter: In 2001, the excavation work of "Nanhai No. 1" was resumed. What difficulties were encountered at that time?

Cui Yong: It took us nearly 10 years from learning underwater archaeology to re-excavating the "Nanhai No. 1". At first, we relied on GPS positioning technology to find the exact location of the "Nanhai No. 1". In the following four years, we conducted seven or eight surveys and trial excavations and found that the shipwreck was well preserved and the cargo on board was also rich. However, the silt of the "Nanhai No. 1" was very thick and the shipwreck was buried under the silt. Due to poor visibility, it is quite difficult to do underwater archaeology in this place. If we just salvage the cultural relics, there will be no progress in archaeological research. Therefore, I proposed to salvage the shipwreck by the method of overall extraction. Wu Jiancheng, an engineer from the Guangzhou Salvage Bureau, proposed the method of using caissons, which just met the needs of overall salvage, and the trial excavation work finally had a breakthrough.

If this method had not been used at the time, a lot of information might have been lost. The shipwreck had no strength, and the overall salvage could protect the hull of the shipwreck very well. In actual implementation, it was found that the most difficult thing was to hoist the caisson. The caisson was 33 meters long, 14 meters wide, and weighed more than 500 tons. It was very difficult to locate it underwater, and it was almost impossible to adjust the position after it was lowered into the water, so it had to be placed accurately at one time, and it really succeeded in the end. In order to have a place to put the salvaged shipwreck, the Guangdong Maritime Silk Road Museum was built while the "Nanhai I" was being salvaged as a whole. In 2007, the caisson was successfully salvaged and transported to the museum.

The "Nanhai I" was photographed in August 2019 and is housed in the Guangdong Maritime Silk Road Museum. Photo by Chen Jimin, a reporter from China News Service

China News Service: It is understood that the laboratory of you and your team can collect archaeological data with an accuracy of millimeters. Based on this technology, what new discoveries have you made? Is this technology world-leading?

Cui Yong: We put the "Nanhai I" in the "Crystal Palace" of the Guangdong Maritime Silk Road Museum and conducted archaeological excavations in public view. In addition, we built the largest archaeological laboratory excavation platform in China, using the most advanced surveying and mapping methods such as laser 3D scanning and close-range photogrammetry to collect archaeological data accurately to the millimeter and preserve the information to the maximum extent. In the absence of technical bottlenecks, we want to do things to the extreme. The excavation of "Nanhai I" is more detailed than most land archaeology. No country in the world can achieve underwater archaeology with millimeter accuracy.

At present, the cultural relics of "Nanhai I" have been cleaned up, with about more than 180,000 sets, including gold, silver, copper, iron, tin, ceramics, lacquerware, glassware, etc. In addition to tombs, the strata involved in land archaeology are all superimposed on different ages, reflecting the vertical axis of time. Through "Nanhai I", we can see the cross-section of the life of the Song Dynasty people in the same period, reflecting the horizontal axis of time. This shipwreck is equivalent to perfecting the coordinates of archaeology.

There was no ceramic in the silt in one of the cabins of the "Nanhai I". After testing the soil, silk protein was found, which means that the "Nanhai I" also transported silk, but the amount may not be large. Food was even richer. A large number of wine jars, salted duck eggs, sheep heads, nuts, bayberries and rice were found on the "Nanhai I". If these were excavated underwater, they might not be preserved. In addition, through the convergence of various information, the precise age of the ship was determined. It sank around the tenth year of Chunxi in the middle of the Southern Song Dynasty, that is, around 1183 AD. From an archaeological point of view, to determine the approximate age of a cultural relic, a reference object is needed, so it is very difficult to accurately determine the specific year. The cultural relics on the "Nanhai I" continuously established age standards, and the timeline of archaeology came out.

A positive photograph of the "Nanhai I". Photo provided by the interviewee

China News Service reporter: What reference value does the excavation and protection process of "Nanhai I" have for the world's underwater archaeology?

Cui Yong: "Nanhai I" is the world leader in this type of shipwreck excavation. There are other types of shipwrecks in the world. For example, France has done some deep-sea archaeology, and China has just started to explore the 1,000-meter deep sea. But "Nanhai I" is the first and only shipwreck in the world that can be accurately salvaged and excavated within 30 meters underwater.

The method of salvaging the "Nanhai I" as a whole is difficult to imitate. Because the environment of underwater archaeology is very different from that of land archaeology, not every site can use the same model. But this model can be replicated as long as the conditions are right, for example, the thickness of the silt must be guaranteed to be able to press the caisson down. In addition, the more difficult the ship is to excavate, the better it is preserved, and the easier the ship is to excavate, the worse it is preserved. This is an obvious contradiction. There are no cases of overall salvage of underwater archaeology abroad, which may also be related to the national system. China can concentrate on major events, and it is not easy to replicate the system abroad.

The excavation and protection of "Nanhai I" is more of an innovation in the concept of underwater cultural heritage protection. UNESCO promotes "Nanhai I" as a classic case, mainly to promote a Chinese concept and consciousness. As long as the concept and consciousness reach a certain level, the rest is technical and economic support.

About the interviewee:

Cui Yong, deputy director of the Guangdong Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology. Photo by Chen Jimin, a reporter from China News Service

Cui Yong, deputy director of the Guangdong Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, is a member of the first batch of underwater archaeological team in China and the leader of the archaeological excavation of "Nanhai No. 1". In 1987, he participated in the reception of the "Nanhai No. 1" cultural relics and witnessed the whole process of China's underwater archaeology from its inception, development, maturity to glory; in 2010, as the leader of the "Nan'ao No. 1" underwater archaeological team, the "Nan'ao No. 1" underwater archaeological excavation organized by him was listed as the "No. 1 Project" in 2010 by the National Underwater Cultural Heritage Protection Center.

Source: China News Service

Image editor: Zhang Xinglong

Editor: Zhao Xiaoqian

Editor: Song Fangcan