Introduction Jeremy Green This report is an attempt to ga<strong>the</strong>r toge<strong>the</strong>r a series <strong>of</strong> studies on shipwreck archaeology that has been conducted by various Australian teams <strong>in</strong> Ch<strong>in</strong>a over <strong>the</strong> last fifteen years. The projects concern three ma<strong>in</strong> maritime archaeological aspects: <strong>the</strong> Song Dynasty Shipwreck <strong>in</strong> Quanzhou, <strong>the</strong> tra<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g <strong>of</strong> Ch<strong>in</strong>ese archaeology students <strong>in</strong> maritime archaeology and <strong>the</strong> <strong>in</strong>vestigation <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Bia Jao site <strong>in</strong> D<strong>in</strong>g Hai. Various organziations have supported this work <strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> Western Australian Department <strong>of</strong> Resources Development, <strong>the</strong> Australian International Cultural Foundation, <strong>the</strong> Australian Research Council, <strong>the</strong> Australia–Ch<strong>in</strong>a Council and <strong>the</strong> Australian Academy for <strong>the</strong> Humanities. In Ch<strong>in</strong>a we have been supported by <strong>the</strong> Museum <strong>of</strong> Ch<strong>in</strong>ese History, <strong>the</strong> Fujian Museum, <strong>the</strong> Museum <strong>of</strong> Overseas Communication History and <strong>the</strong> University <strong>of</strong> Ximen. I would like to acknowledge Dr Peter Burns <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Department <strong>of</strong> History at Adelaide University who was responsible for gett<strong>in</strong>g many <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>se projects underway. The Song dynasty ship dat<strong>in</strong>g from about 1277 and known as <strong>the</strong> Quanzhou Ship is an extremely important archaeological f<strong>in</strong>d. It represents <strong>the</strong> earliest example <strong>of</strong> an almost complete Ch<strong>in</strong>ese ship and has important implications <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> understand<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> development <strong>of</strong> Asian shipbuild<strong>in</strong>g. The ship was discovered <strong>in</strong> 1973 whilst dredg<strong>in</strong>g a canal at Houzhou, about 10 km from Quanzhou. The f<strong>in</strong>d was carefully studied and an excavation took place between 7 June and 31 August 1974. The ship was dismantled and transported to Quanzhou, where it was rebuilt under a temporary shelter <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> grounds <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Museum adjacent to <strong>the</strong> Kaiyuanxi Temple. Between 1977 and 1979 a build<strong>in</strong>g was constructed with<strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> grounds <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> temple which <strong>in</strong>cluded <strong>the</strong> ship, a display area and adm<strong>in</strong>istrative quarters. In 1988 a new Museum was constructed <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> outskirts <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> city which housed <strong>the</strong> adm<strong>in</strong>istration <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Museum, however at <strong>the</strong> time <strong>of</strong> our last visit (1995) <strong>the</strong> ship rests <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> old museum site and <strong>the</strong>re are long term plans to eventually relocate <strong>the</strong> vessel <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> new museum. The excavation <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Quanzhou ship has been reported previously, <strong>in</strong>itially <strong>in</strong> a series <strong>of</strong> four reports <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> Ch<strong>in</strong>ese archaeological journal Wen Wu (Song Shipwreck, 1975 a, b, c & d). These reports have also been reviewed by Salmon & Lombard (1979), translated <strong>in</strong>to English by Merw<strong>in</strong> (1977) and reported briefly by Keith & Buys (1981). A more detailed report <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> ship and its history was published by <strong>the</strong> Museum for Overseas Ch<strong>in</strong>ese History (1985). In January 1983, one <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> authors (Green), at <strong>the</strong> <strong>in</strong>vitation <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Overseas Communications Museum, and sponsored by <strong>the</strong> Australia- Ch<strong>in</strong>a Council, <strong>in</strong>spected <strong>the</strong> Song Dynasty shipwreck at Quanzhou. Dur<strong>in</strong>g this visit a number <strong>of</strong> photographs <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> hull were taken and discussions were held with <strong>the</strong> technical committee responsible for <strong>the</strong> study <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> ship (Green, 1983a). A second visit was made <strong>in</strong> August 1887 when, with <strong>the</strong> assistance <strong>of</strong> Museum staff, measurements were made <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> hull. A third visit was made <strong>in</strong> July 1993 with Paul Clark <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Museums and Art Galleries <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>No</strong>r<strong>the</strong>rn Territories and Karen Millar <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Department <strong>of</strong> <strong>Maritime</strong> <strong>Archaeology</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Western Australian Museum when fur<strong>the</strong>r <strong>in</strong>formation was obta<strong>in</strong>ed about <strong>the</strong> vessel (Green, et al, 1993). In September 1994 a visit was planned by Green with Paul Clark and Nick Burn<strong>in</strong>gham <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Department <strong>of</strong> <strong>Maritime</strong> <strong>Archaeology</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Western Australian Museum, but due to personal problems only Clark and Burn<strong>in</strong>gham visited Quanzhou. Dur<strong>in</strong>g this visit measurements were made <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>in</strong>ternal structure <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> vessel us<strong>in</strong>g a remote measur<strong>in</strong>g system and <strong>the</strong> team were allowed to enter <strong>the</strong> vessel and <strong>in</strong>spect <strong>the</strong> <strong>in</strong>terior. Subsequently, Burn<strong>in</strong>gham and Green compiled a technical report on this work. In addition translation <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Museum <strong>of</strong> Overseas Ch<strong>in</strong>ese Communication History (1985) report has been undertaken. S<strong>in</strong>ce <strong>the</strong> last visit, Burn<strong>in</strong>gham and Green have been work<strong>in</strong>g on <strong>the</strong> plans and prepar<strong>in</strong>g this report. The first part <strong>of</strong> this report describes <strong>the</strong> <strong>in</strong>itial discovery <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> site and <strong>the</strong> excavation as determ<strong>in</strong>ed from <strong>the</strong> archaeological reports and from discussions with staff at <strong>the</strong> Museum <strong>of</strong> Overseas Communication History. In addition <strong>the</strong> work <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> four study trips is described <strong>in</strong> detail, toge<strong>the</strong>r with a review <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> current <strong>in</strong>formation available on Ch<strong>in</strong>ese and Asian shipbuild<strong>in</strong>g. The report concludes with a description <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Quanzhou ship as it now exists reconstructed <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> Museum and a discussion <strong>of</strong> some aspects <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> hull construction. The report is based on <strong>the</strong> Ch<strong>in</strong>ese reports, <strong>the</strong> authors exam<strong>in</strong>ation <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> ship, <strong>the</strong> results <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> analysis by Burn<strong>in</strong>gham and on discussions by <strong>the</strong> various authors with <strong>the</strong> director <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Museum, Mr Zhuang B<strong>in</strong>g Zang, Mr Wang Zeng Yu who was responsible for <strong>the</strong> reconstruction and members <strong>of</strong> staff <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Overseas Ch<strong>in</strong>ese History Museum. It should be noted that some difficulty was experienced with <strong>the</strong> discussions <strong>in</strong> Ch<strong>in</strong>a, s<strong>in</strong>ce <strong>the</strong> Ch<strong>in</strong>ese <strong>in</strong>terpreters were <strong>of</strong>ten not familiar with shipbuild<strong>in</strong>g terms. In addition many <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> terms have no simple English equivalent, so this is not a criticism <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> competence <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> translator ra<strong>the</strong>r an <strong>in</strong>dication <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> complexity <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> problem <strong>of</strong> deal<strong>in</strong>g with technology <strong>in</strong> a culture that is unfamiliar to a writer. The authors took great care to confirm that <strong>the</strong> <strong>in</strong>formation was correct, but acknowledge that errors have almost certa<strong>in</strong>ly crept <strong>in</strong>to this report and s<strong>in</strong>ce it was not possible to verify all <strong>the</strong> facts, <strong>the</strong> report should be treated with some caution. Follow<strong>in</strong>g this is a report on <strong>the</strong> first season <strong>of</strong> excavation on <strong>the</strong> Bai Jao site at D<strong>in</strong>g Hai and a report on <strong>the</strong> ceramics from <strong>the</strong> area by Paul Clark (unavailable at present), followed by a report by Sarah Kenderd<strong>in</strong>e on <strong>the</strong> second excavation season on Bai Jao.
Part 1. The Song Dynast Shipwreck at Quanzhou Jeremy Green & Nick Burn<strong>in</strong>gham i