The Cirebon shipwreck is a late 9th to 10th-century
shipwreck
A shipwreck is the wreckage of a ship that is located either beached on land or sunken to the bottom of a body of water. Shipwrecking may be intentional or unintentional. Angela Croome reported in January 1999 that there were approximately ...
discovered in 2003, in the
Java Sea
The Java Sea ( id, Laut Jawa, jv, Segara Jawa) is an extensive shallow sea on the Sunda Shelf, between the Indonesian islands of Borneo to the north, Java to the south, Sumatra to the west, and Sulawesi to the east. Karimata Strait to its nort ...
offshore of
Cirebon
Cirebon (, formerly rendered Cheribon or Chirebon in English) is a port city on the northern coast of the Indonesian island of Java. It is the only coastal city of West Java, located about 40 km west of the provincial border with Central Java ...
,
West Java
West Java ( id, Jawa Barat, su, ᮏᮝ ᮊᮥᮜᮧᮔ᮪, romanized ''Jawa Kulon'') is a province of Indonesia on the western part of the island of Java, with its provincial capital in Bandung. West Java is bordered by the province of Banten ...
,
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
. The shipwreck contains a large amount of Chinese
Yue ware
Yue or Yueh ( ) may refer to:
Places
* Guangdong, abbreviated (), a province of China
* Yue Nan (), the Chinese name for Vietnam
* Zhejiang, commonly abbreviated (), a province of China
Languages
* Yue Chinese, a branch of Chinese, spoken ...
, and is notable as important
marine archaeology
Maritime archaeology (also known as marine archaeology) is a discipline within archaeology as a whole that specifically studies human interaction with the sea, lakes and rivers through the study of associated physical remains, be they vessels, s ...
evidence of the
Maritime Silk Road
The Maritime Silk Road or Maritime Silk Route is the maritime section of the historic Silk Road that connected Southeast Asia, China, the Indian subcontinent, the Arabian peninsula, Somalia, Egypt and Europe. It began by the 2nd century BCE and ...
trading activity in
Maritime Southeast Asia
Maritime Southeast Asia comprises the countries of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and East Timor. Maritime Southeast Asia is sometimes also referred to as Island Southeast Asia, Insular Southeast Asia or Oceanic Sout ...
.
Discovery, location and findings
Local fishermen in the
Java Sea
The Java Sea ( id, Laut Jawa, jv, Segara Jawa) is an extensive shallow sea on the Sunda Shelf, between the Indonesian islands of Borneo to the north, Java to the south, Sumatra to the west, and Sulawesi to the east. Karimata Strait to its nort ...
acquired fragments of Chinese ceramics in their fishing nets back in 2003. These ceramics were found at a depth of about 54 metres, located about 100 kilometres from the port city of Cirebon. The wreck was salvaged by a private company in 2004 to 2006.
About 250,000 artefacts were recovered, 65% of which consisted mainly of Chinese ceramics dated from
Five Dynasties period
The Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period (), from 907 to 979, was an era of political upheaval and division in 10th-century Imperial China. Five dynastic states quickly succeeded one another in the Central Plain, and more than a dozen concu ...
of 10th-century
Imperial China
The earliest known written records of the history of China date from as early as 1250 BC, from the Shang dynasty (c. 1600–1046 BC), during the reign of king Wu Ding. Ancient historical texts such as the '' Book of Documents'' (early chapte ...
, and also other ceramics from other parts of Asia. 10% was Near East and Indian glassware and gemstones, and the rest consisted of ingots, iron and other metals.
Sunken ship
The ship was identified as a Western-Austronesian vessel of about 30 m length, possibly built in the area around the
Straits of Malacca
The Strait of Malacca is a narrow stretch of water, 500 mi (800 km) long and from 40 to 155 mi (65–250 km) wide, between the Malay Peninsula (Peninsular Malaysia) to the northeast and the Indonesian island of Sumatra to the southwest, connec ...
. A number of repairs visible on the remains of the hull imply that the vessel had been in use for a considerable time before her sinking. The site of her foundering lies on a straight course from the Bangka Straits of southern Sumatra to the area around today's
Semarang
Semarang ( jv, ꦏꦸꦛꦯꦼꦩꦫꦁ , Pegon: سماراڠ) is the capital and largest city of Central Java province in Indonesia. It was a major port during the Dutch colonial era, and is still an important regional center and port today. ...
on Java. The stowage pattern of the cargo signals that most of the stoneware and ceramic cargo had been taken aboard in ports of Southern China, most possibly
Guangzhou
Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of Guangdong province in southern China. Located on the Pearl River about north-northwest of Hong Kon ...
, where around that time the
Nanhan Kingdom, one of the Ten Southern Kingdoms during the era of the Five Dynasties, was coming to an end; Fine Paste Ware kendis and vases from the
Satingpra
Sathing Phra ( th, สทิงพระ, ) is a district (''amphoe'') in the northern part of Songkhla province, southern Thailand.
Geography
Neighboring districts are (from the south clockwise): Singhanakhon of Songkhla Province; Pak Phayun ...
/
Kra Isthmus
The Kra Isthmus ( th, คอคอดกระ, ) in Thailand is the narrowest part of the Malay Peninsula. The western part of the isthmus belongs to Ranong Province and the eastern part to Chumphon Province, both in Southern Thailand. The ...
area found in the higher layers of the site imply a stop there; Middle Eastern glasswares and semi-precious stones and Malay tin were added at a stop in one of the southern Sumatran ports of the
Srivijayan federation. An analysis of the Chinese coins in the cargo allows pinpointing the sinking to around 970 CE.
Auction
The salvaged artefacts were auctioned in 2006, subsequently salvagers split the sale 50-50 percent with Indonesian government. Considering the importance of this find for the studies of economy and trade history, also marine archaeology; experts, historians and archaeologists urged the Indonesian government to keep and preserve most of the wreck's contents intact. The government decided to keep 10 percent of the 76,000 recovered artefacts intact as the collection of Indonesian museum.
See also
*
Belitung shipwreck
The Belitung shipwreck (also called the Tang shipwreck or Batu Hitam shipwreck) is the wreck of an Arabian dhow which sank around 830 AD. The ship completed the outward journey from Arabia to China, but sank on the return journey from China, app ...
*
Borobudur ship
A Borobudur ship is the 8th to 9th-century wooden double outrigger sailing Marine vessel, vessel of Maritime Southeast Asia depicted in some bas reliefs of the Borobudur Buddhist monument in Central Java, Indonesia. It is a ship of Javanese peopl ...
*
Djong (ship)
The djong, jong, or jung (also called junk in English) is a type of ancient sailing ship originating from Java, Indonesia that was widely used by Javanese, Sundanese, and later Malay sailors. The word was and is spelled ''jong'' in its languages ...
*
Srivijaya
Srivijaya ( id, Sriwijaya) was a Buddhist thalassocratic empire based on the island of Sumatra (in modern-day Indonesia), which influenced much of Southeast Asia. Srivijaya was an important centre for the expansion of Buddhism from the 7th t ...
*
Archaeology of Indonesia
The archaeology of Indonesia is the study of the archaeology of the archipelagic realm that today forms the nation of Indonesia, stretching from prehistory through almost two millennia of documented history. The ancient Indonesian archipelago wa ...
References
External links
Cirebon Wrecks, Marine Heritage Gallery
{{Austronesian ships
10th-century artifacts
2003 archaeological discoveries
Shipwrecks of Indonesia
Shipwrecks in the Java Sea
Cirebon
2003 in Indonesia