水中考古学／船舶・海事史研究

Submerged City from China

BEIJING, June 14 -- Ten divers began a seven-day search for a possible underwater "Atlantis" on Friday in the Fuxian Lake near Kunming, the second-deepest freshwater pool in the country.

Local diver Geng Wei first told of a large ancient city in the lake eight years ago, thought to span 2.4 square kilometres. Geng claimed to have seen lots of square boulders more than 1.4 square metres in size, either piled or scattered deep underwater.

In 2001, the local government launched the first large exploration of the lake, which was broadcast live across the nation by China Central Television (CCTV).

A submarine was sent down and detected a 60-metre-long stone wall. Divers unearthed a shard of pottery embedded in the stone wall, which was found to date back to the Han Dynasty (104 BC-220 AD).

The evidence convinced Chinese archaeologists that there might be some constructions under the lake, possibly more than 1,800 years old.

This hypothesis was substantiated on Friday in the first dive, when Geng was videotaped finding three notches, each 1.2 metres long and 45 centimetres wide, on a moss-covered square slate.

The "IY"-shaped notches must have been artificial, and "support the idea that all the stones were once processed by humans," said Li Kunsheng, director of the Archaeology Research Centre of Yunnan University.

But Liu Qingzhu, director of the Institute of Archaeology under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, added: "We still have not enough information to verify that these slates made up a city. Even the shard and shell cannot represent the exact date of the rocks."

After Geng announced his discovery eight years ago, more claims were made of underwater finds in the lake, which boasts a water surface of 212 square kilometres and an average depth of 87 metres. They include a slate path, an arena-like building and a small pyramid.

However, Liu, who was present during two underwater excavations, said no pictures or evidence about the above "findings" had ever been provided by these people.

Despite this, experts have engaged in a prolonged debate over whether these slates are relics of a documented city that mysteriously disappeared.

The history books show that the city of Yuyuan to the north of the Fuxian Lake once existed, but it disappeared from records after the Southern and Northern Dynasties (AD 420-589).

Li said the lake is situated on an earthquake-intense belt, which might suggest that the underwater construction may have sunken in rising waves during a quake.

Dissenters argue that the stone structure is contrary to buildings of this era, which were made of bamboo, wood or mud.

Liu said that while all the answers to this underwater mystery will not be found in seven days, "we'll try to outline a layout map of what is beneath, and do more in the future."

(Source: China Daily)

Editor: Lin Li

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Ancient Ceremonial Boat Discovered in Japan

I found the English page regarding this news.

In Nara prefecture of Japan, A.D. 4th century ceremonial boat was discovered. This boat probably carried noble to his grave. The surface of the wood is stained and a motif is carved. It is 2.1 m in length, 0.78 m in width, and 0.25 m in thickness. In China, it is known that dead were carried on boat. It is believed that this boat finished its mission and discarded at the side of the tomb.

Such a find in rare in Japan, and this artifact should be analyzed fully by trained nautical/boat archaeologist to fully understand the real significant.

Dr. Tanabe

Shozo Tanabe, who has been the leading professor in Archaeology in Japan that started the first government funded and well organized underwater archaeology project overseas, has died at the age of 72. He is credited as the first underwater archaeologist in Japan for he has directed excavation off the coast of Syria. Although his involvement in underwater/nautical archaeology is not well known among Japanese public, he has been in a public eye as one of the leading archaologists in Japan. His contribution to the study of underwater archaeology will be remembered by many of his colleagues in Asia. Perhaps, his death may bring a new interest to this field in Japan.

Shipwreck items to be auctioned (Vietnam)

The southernmost province of Ca Mau is gearing up to transport more than 76,000 antiques to Amsterdam for auction at Sotheby’s.

According to director of Ca Mau Historical Museum, Le Cong Uan, the antiques were salvaged in 1998 from the shipwreck of a vessel that is believed to have sunk in the early 18th century off Ca Mau’s southern coast.

Chinaware plates, tea-cups, boxes and statues are included in the items to be sold off.

"The Government has allowed us to sell the antiques at an international auction, but there are still a number of customs procedures to be completed before we can ship them," Uan said.

Salvaging the antiques from the shipwreck cost about VND16 billion (US$1 million), of which VND14 billion came from the State budget.

Sotheby’s will cover all the costs of the auction but it will take 20 per cent of the revenue from the sales.

Some of the antiques have been kept by the Viet Nam Historical Museum, Viet Nam Fine Art Museum in Ha Noi, and historical museums in HCM City and Ca Mau . — VNS