Brian McDonald
Nearly 1,000 pieces of treasure – including copper coins and ornate Ming Dynasty pottery – have been recovered from two ancient shipwrecks discovered in the South China Sea, employees said On thursday.
The year-long recovery operation came after the two shipwrecks were discovered in 2022 at a depth of about 1,500 meters near the northwest continental slope of the South China Sea, according to the National Cultural Heritage Administration of China. Archaeologists used a manned submersible called “Deep Sea Warrior” to conduct the excavation, officials said.
The team of scientists recovered 890 pieces of artifacts from the first shipwreck, including copper coins, porcelain and ceramics, officials said. The second wreck yielded 38 relics, including wood, turban shells and deer antlers.
The National Cultural Heritage Administration released images of the recovered treasure, as well as photos of the submersible retrieving artifacts from the ocean floor with a robotic “claw.”
National Cultural Heritage Administration
While the shipwrecks and their treasure have obvious cultural value, they also reinforce China’s political goals of asserting territorial claims over the region. Beijing claims sovereignty over most of the South China Sea under its “Nine-dash line” policy and attempted to leverage these claims with China’s historical presence in the region.
In 2016, a international court ruled that key elements of China’s claims in the South China Sea were illegal, but Beijing says it does not recognize the ruling.
Six countries claim parts of the sea – China, Taiwan, Vietnam, the Philippines, Brunei and Malaysia – and the risks are high. Trillions of dollars of trade pass through the South China Sea every year, and there is a huge amount of oil under the sea.
And then there is the treasure trove of shipwrecks, which China uses to amplify its contested claims.
“The discovery provides evidence that Chinese ancestors developed, utilized and traveled to and from the South China Sea, with the two shipwrecks serving as important witnesses to trade and cultural exchange along the ancient Maritime Silk Road,” he said. Guan Qiang, deputy head of the NCHA, said Thursday.
National Cultural Heritage Administration
China’s Ming dynasty, which spanned from 1368 to 1644, was “a period of cultural restoration and expansion,” according to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The museum said that vast landscapes and artworks featuring flowers and birds “were particularly favored as images that would glorify the new dynasty and convey its benevolence, virtue and majesty.”
News of the shipwreck treasure comes just weeks after an iconic U.S. Navy submarine that was sunk during World War II was located 3,000 underwater in the South China Sea off the coast of the Philippines.
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