Arab dhow wreck off Belitung Island, Indonesia
Ceramics from the wreck (Maritime Explorations)
I’ve just come across a story of about an Arab dhow that was found off Belitung Island near the SE coast of Sumatra 10 years ago. It was found by fishermen in about 17 metres of water. When it was excavated, about 60,000 pieces of cargo were recovered. These were made up largely of ceramics, primarily Changsha ware. This was mass produced during the Tang dynasty for export, and allowed archaeologists to date the wreck at between 826 and 850 AD.
In addition to the mass produced Changsha ware, they also found some high quality goods. These included the largest Tang gold cup ever found, some intricately decorated gold dishes and a cup with Islamic themes, plus some Yue ware from Zhejiang province – which the ancient Chinese compared to snow because of its delicacy. These could have been some sort of royal tribute.
The ship’s construction suggests that it was an Arab dhow, which implies that there was a maritime “Silk Road” between China and Arab lands as early as the 9th century. Europeans were not making such long voyages until the Portuguese in the 15th century.
Singapore’s government purchased the artefacts in 2005.
The photo above comes from Maritime Explorations’s website, where you can read more and see more of the photos and a video.
Plus there is a good blog from the Southeast Asian Archaeology website, which was based on a talk given by Rosemary Scott at the National University of Singapore. Coincidentally Rosemary Scott will be doing 2 talks on ceramics for Christie’s in Hong Kong at the end of November.
Tags: Archaeology, Wrecks