"Promised land" for underwater archaeology

The area where the shipwreck was discovered on Cam An ward beach at the end of 2023. Photo: QUOC TUAN

Reminiscent of golden memories

It has been a year and a half since the shipwreck was discovered on the coast of Cam An (Cam An ward, Hoi An city), but authorities have not been able to conduct excavations.

Initial field studies from the Hoi An Cultural Heritage Management and Conservation Center show that, due to erosion and changes over time, the previous location (around before 1905) of the sunken ship may have been about 700 - 800m from the water's edge.

At the same time, initial pollen spore analysis results show that the time the ship sank or was abandoned in Cam An was in a sea area, not a river.

According to the Hoi An Center for Cultural Heritage Management and Preservation, these not only confirm the ancient nature of the shipwreck on Cam An beach, but can also estimate that the age of this ship is likely to be at least several centuries earlier than 1905.

In addition, the ship has a large size, strong structure, combining the Southeast Asian and Chinese shipbuilding traditions, built from durable and strong wood such as Lagerstroemia (sang le), Kien Kien native to Southeast Asia and pine imported from China, using a sealant to prevent water from entering the ship. These are important features that allow the Cam An ship to carry out long voyages such as commercial activities at sea or even naval battles.

According to the general opinion of experts, Cu Lao Cham - Hoi An is an ideal sea area for underwater archaeological activities. Photo: QUOC TUAN

The dense past sediments in this sea area make the hypothesis that there is another shipwreck about 1km from the water's edge in the coastal area from Tan Thanh to Cua Dai more likely, which experts believe to be well-founded.

According to local fishermen, at this location down towards Cua Dai, around 2017 - 2018 they discovered a ship with many burnt pillars, a porcelain bowl compartment and many porcelain bowls, many very large cast iron pans stacked on top of each other...

Here, they also salvaged many porcelain dishes. Preliminary assessment shows that the relics in the shipwreck may be mainly Zhangzhou ceramics and some from Dehua, cast iron pans with a dating frame focusing on around 1560 to the 1630s in the late Ming Dynasty.

According to the Hoi An Center for Cultural Heritage Management and Preservation, the shipwreck on the coast of Cam An is an extremely unique and vivid physical evidence demonstrating a period of bustling trade in the East Sea, in which the Hoi An sea area for centuries held a strategic position on the international maritime route connecting East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, Southwest Asia and the West...

“Promised land” for underwater archaeology

According to the general opinion of experts, Cu Lao Cham - Hoi An is an ideal sea area for underwater archaeological activities. This is also an area with great potential for the construction and development of a maritime museum and an international underwater archaeological research and training center.

The seabed near the coast of Hoi An still contains many sediments of maritime culture. Photo: QUOC TUAN

In fact, the period 2013 - 2018 has recorded the bustle of underwater archaeological activities in this sea area. These include the basic SCUBA diving training course for staff of the Vietnam Institute of Archaeology with guidance from Australian and Japanese experts (2014); the international training course Vietnam Underwater Archaeological Training with the participation of 12 experts and trainers from the International Council for Underwater Cultural Heritage under ICOMOS UNESCO (2015), the experimental survey using underwater autonomous vehicles (ROV) in the Hon Mo - Cu Lao Cham area (2016) ... These activities have contributed to the discovery of many more relics and the great potential of cultural heritage treasures in the sea of ​​Hoi An.

At a workshop related to Cu Lao Cham, Associate Professor, Dr. Le Thi Lien - former Head of the Department of Underwater Archaeology Research, Institute of Archaeology, stated that currently there are not many countries and agencies with the ability to independently carry out large-scale underwater research projects.

Therefore, Hoi An has all the elements of weather conditions, marine environment and richness of relics that need to be studied to become a destination for research and training activities.

The discovery of the shipwreck right on the coast of Cam An, along with many other relics related to maritime culture that are regularly discovered in coastal waters, once again evokes many mysteries still hidden in the sea of ​​Hoi An.

The ability to study the relationship between archaeological sites and artifacts discovered on Cu Lao Cham Island, on the mainland of Hoi An, and artifacts and shipwrecks in the waters of Hoi An and neighboring areas will provide important insights into the history of maritime trade and other relationships through different periods.

According to the Hoi An Center for Cultural Heritage Management and Preservation, it is necessary to continue researching, excavating and preserving the shipwreck on the coast of Cam An, thereby creating a basis for promoting the historical, cultural and tourism values ​​in Hoi An. At the same time, it is necessary to have a plan to survey the Tan Thanh - Cua Dai sea area to search for more shipwrecks in this area.

Source: https://baoquangnam.vn/mien-dat-hua-cho-khao-co-hoc-duoi-nuoc-3155465.html