National Geographic History - USA (2022-05 & 2022-06)

waters in which the wreck

was discovered. In these

carefully monitored condi-

tions, archaeologists contin-

ue to study the wreck.

The Roads of the Sea

Over the years, archaeologists

have recovered tens of

thousands of objects from the

Nanhai No. 1, including 100

gold artifacts and thousands

of coins. Most of the 60,000

to 80,000 objects on the Nan-

hai No. 1, however, are ceram-

ics from the Southern Song.

The sea lanes the Southern

Song relied on are known by

historians as the Maritime

Silk Road. Emerging around

the same time as the rise of

Rome in the West, the Mar-

itime Silk Road linked Indo-

nesia and the Spice Islands,

India, the Arab world, and

the Greco-Roman world of

the Mediterranean.

It is likely that the Nanhai

No. 1 set sail from the port

Nanhai No. 1 was placed in a

custom-made saltwater tank.

Much of the cargo has not

been removed from the

junk’s hold. To prevent dete-

rioration, silt and water cov-

er the craft and its contents,

and the tank is maintained at

the same temperature of the

DISCOVERIES

In December 2007 the

Nanhai No. 1 and its precious

contents (weighing a total of

15,600 tons) were transferred

to the Maritime Silk Road

Museum of Guangdong on

Hailing Island, which had

been built specifically to

house the wreck. There, the

2.

3.

4.

MARITIME SILK ROAD MUSEUM GUANGDONG

STAGES OF THE SALVAGE: 1. The steel cage is lowered around the wreck. 2. Concrete blocks on top push the box down into

the seafloor. 3. The wreck site and surrounding sediment is secured. 4. The box is raised by a semisubmersible boat.

1.

THE WRECK OF THE NANHAI NO. 1

ON THE SEABED BEFORE SALVAGE

MARITIME SILK ROAD MUSEUM GUANGDONG

94 MAY/JUNE 2022