No. 237 Maritime Archaeology in the People's Republic of China ...

Section 2. Excavation of Bai Jiao 1 wreck site, 1995
The ships that sail the Southern Sea and south of it are like
houses. When their sails are spread they are like great clouds in
the sky...The big ship with its heavy cargo has naught to fear of
the great waves, but in shallow water it comes to grief (cited in
Guy, 1992:18).
Project structure
The two month excavation of the Bai Jiao 1 wreck site was a
joint China-Australia expedition undertaken between personnel
from the National Museum of Chinese History and the Western
Australian Maritime Museum (WAMM). The 1995 project was
the second joint cooperative work following that completed
in 1989 and 1990. Under the agreement for 1995 both parties
came together to focus on the completion of underwater work
started at the site in 1990 (Clark & Zheng Wei, 1990; Yu Wei
Chao et al., 1992). Subsidiary projects were the survey of
nearby sites and documentation and research of the ceramics
collected by the Lianjiang County Museum.
As part of the agreement between the Chinese and Australian
sides the 1995 work involved a core team of eight personnel
including the principal archaeologists. It was intended that
further training would be provided by the Australian side for
the Chinese maritime archaeologists. The Australian side was
also to bring specialist equipment for the excavation. The
Western Australian Maritime Museum provided a full diving
compressor unit and hookah system for four divers plus spares,
a water dredge set up including pump and a global positioning
system (GPS). This equipment now remains in China for use
in future maritime archaeological work. All other equipment
including underwater cameras and video were also provided
during the work. The Chinese side arranged the accommodation
and hired a local fishing boat for the duration of the excavation.
Costs for the project were split between the two parties. The
Australian team was financed from the Chunnar Fund, WA
China Economic and Technical Fund, Department of Resources
Development.
Project team
The project team was staggered over the duration of the
excavation due to the availability of personnel. The team
included:
Ch i n e S e te a m
Li Jian An: Director of Ancient Ceramics Research
Society of China, Vice Director of Archaeology
Department, Fujian
Province Museum.
Lin Guo: Vice Director Fuzhou Municipal Department
of Cultural Relics and Archaeology,
Fuzhou City Museum.
Wu Chunming: archaeologist, Xiamen University.
Lou Jian Rong: archaeologist, Fujian Province
Museum.
Zhu Bin: photographer, Fuzhou City Museum.
Luo Ming Yng: Director, Cultural Relics Bureau and
of Lianjiang County Museum.
Chen En: retired director, Cultural Relics Bureau
Lianjiang County.
Zhou Rong Di: archaeological drawer, Fuzhou City
Museum.
au S t r a l i a n t e a m
Jeremy Green: Head, Maritime Archaeology
Department, WAMM.
Sarah Kenderdine: curator, Maritime Archaeology
Department, WAMM.
Jon Carpenter: conservator and photographer,
WAMM.
Penny Brown: general assistant.
Team Structure
he a d S o f e x C avat i o n
Li Jian An and Jeremy Green
ex C avat i o n a n d t e a m C o o r d i n at o r S
Sarah Kenderdine and Lin Guo
Dive team
The diving team was small but efficient, and this meant that
those involved were utilised to full potential. The members
of the dive team were Li Jian An, Lin Guo, Wu Chunming,
Sarah Kenderdine, Jeremy Green and Jon Carpenter. The
dive log for the excavation period is contained in Appendix
I. Diving was generally arranged to coincide with a morning
and afternoon session as closely linked to the high and low
tides as possible.
Xiao Chen accommodation
Accommodation was arranged at the town of Xiao Chen (refer
to Figure 6), south from Dinghai. This major fishing village had
certain logistical advantages over that of the smaller Dinghai,
in terms of purchase and excavation needs. The expedition
team had four rooms on the second floor of a waterfront hotel,
with storage facilities in the basement.
Previous underwater archaeological work in China
In September 1989, the National Museum of Chinese History,
the Western Australian Maritime Museum and the Research
Centre for South-East Asian Ceramics at the University of
Adelaide, began a training course in maritime archaeology
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