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Southeast Asian Ceramics Museum Newsletter Volume VIII, Number 1 Jun - Sep 2014 Southeast Asian Ceramics Museum Newsletter The Phanom Surin Ship- InsideContents this issue: wreck: New Discovery of an Arab-style Shipwreck Newsletter articles: • The Phanom Surin in Central Thailand shipwreck .......................... 1 • The Belitung shipwreck Photos Courtesy of the 1st Regional and its ceramics cargo ....... 4 Office of Fine Arts Department of • Review of ceramic finds Thailand in the port of Laem Pho ...... 9 Collection review: In September 2013, the archaeolo- • Changsha ewer in gists of the 1st Regional Office of the shape of a bird ........... 11 Fine Arts Department in Ratchaburi News in brief: received a report from the Subdis- • A report on trict Administration Organization of the conference of Research on Chinese Export Ware Phan Thai Norasing in Samut Sakhon Found in Thailand during that Mr. Surin and Mrs. Phanom Sri- the Past Three Decades ... 12 ngamdee, the owners of a shrimp farm near the Wisutthi Warawat (Klang Klong) Temple, discovered the keelson of a shipwreck, as well as other parts of a ship’s infrastruc- Fig. 1 Current view of the Phanom Editor: ture, and many ceramic shards still Surin Shipwreck excavation. • Dr. Pariwat Thammapreechakorn buried several meters deep under the muddy ground in a shrimp farm. The 1st Regional Office in Ratchaburi Editorial staff: The location of the shipwreck was and the Underwater Archaeology Di- • Atthasit Sukkham exactly onshore in central Thailand, vision of the Fine Arts Department • Wanaporn Khambut around 8 kilometers from current of Thailand cooperated in immedi- • Utaiwan Chatuporn shoreline. According to the previ- ately beginning the rescue excava- • Burin Singtoaj ous research, it was assumed that tion, and they named this shipwreck • John Toomey the area in which this shipwreck was the “Phanom Surin Shipwreck”, after • Walter Kassela found had once been the former the name of the land owner who shallows of the Gulf of Thailand and donated some area to protect the Reporters: the ship was one of two Tang ship- site. The excavation is still ongoing. • Preeyanuch Jumprom wrecks ever found in Southeast Asia. During the progress of the excava- • Nia Naelul Hasanah Ridwan tion, the archaeologists found the • Atthasit Sukkham structure of the wooden ship almost • Burin Singtoaj intact (Fig. 1) with its cargo of many • John Toomey ceramic shards, a part of basketwork attached on a ceramic, dammar (resin) inside a jar, a possible round [email protected] grinding stone (Fig. 2), a possible Southeast Asian Ceramics Museum Fig. 2 Possible round grinding stone. round stone anchor, rattan ropes, ..continue next page 1 The Phanom Surin Shipwreck Letter from the Editor This issue is about the contacts be- Fig. 3 Betel nuts. Fig. 5 Stitches of each hull plank using tween the Tang Dynasty and South- the fiber robes enforced and stitched. east Asia during the 9th to 10th centuries. The issue contains two articles regarding shipwrecks in the South China Sea. The first article is about the new discovery of the ship- wreck of Phanom Surin sunk in the area of a former shallow of the Gulf of Thailand which is now a part of the lower central plain of Thailand. It was found that its assemblages may Fig. 4 Coconut shell with small hole. be simpler and older than the Be- litung assemblages, as mentioned in the second article. Additionally, one fiber ropes, rice grains, betel hidden key site people did not know nuts (Fig. 3), coconut shells with is the possible port of Laem Pho lo- a small hole (Fig. 4), fishbone, cated in Chaiya, Surat Thani. On the ivories, and other animal horns. east coast of the middle part of the Fig. 6 Shards of torpedo-shaped Malay Peninsula, this was a destina- The ship was built with a 17.65 me- stoneware jars: the mouths (above tion for Tang export products sup- ters long rectangular keelson and left), an Arabian inscription on some upper part (below), its shape (above plied by maritime trade routes. They the bottom of keelson is pierced right) and the dammar stuck on its were distributed to some cities lo- through with many holes for mortise inside wall (middle left). cated deep inland, especially Chaiya, and tenon joints with the frames, as it was the territory of the Srivijaya but a keel has not been found yet. 2000; 2001; Krahl, Guy, Wilson Kingdom. I hope you enjoy reading The bow possibly faced to the south and Raby, 2010). Hence, the Pha- these articles. Moreover, the restora- and the ship collapsed to the lar- nom Surin shipwreck is assumed tion of the Southeast Asian Ceramics board since only its starboard was to be an Arab-style of ship as well. Museum may be finished before the above the ground. The hull planks end of this year. We are looking for- were enforced and stitched with fib- The ceramic shards were found in a ward to welcoming you at that time. er ropes (Fig. 5) and every drill-hole number larger than other items and was probably sealed using putty of were full of variety, coming from dammar that was found as evidence several origins. in a torpedo-shaped stoneware jar (Fig. 6). Two round masts had col- The first type is the carinated earth- lapsed and lay on the larboard, of enware pots with cord marked or which one was 17.37 meters high. incised designs (Fig. 7), related to This ship building is similar to the the ceramics commonly found in a Arab-style of the Belitung ship- large number on the Dvaravati sites wreck sunk near the Indonesian is- in central Thailand, including some land of Belitung (Michael Flecker, parts of northeastern Thailand dur- 2 continue next page.. The Phanom Surin Shipwreck Fig. 7 Shard of Dvaravati carinated earthenware pot. ing the 5th to 10th centuries. Fig. 9 Tang Fengkai unglazed jar still The second type is a portion of stringed the original fiber robes, first torpedo-shaped stoneware jars that half of the 9th century. the archaeologists believed were possibly from India or the Middle some of them were inscribed with East. Dammar was found stuck on only the single Chinese character their interior walls (Fig. 6). Howev- “吉” (Ji) onto its shoulder that er, the identification of this type was possibly a part of the full word of jar is still unclear because they “大吉” (Daji), which means “lucky”. are similar to the amphorae pro- These are dated approximately to duced somewhere in Greece or the first half of the 9th century (Fig. Fig. 8 Shards of Tang Guanchong green Egypt around the 8th century and glazed jars, first half of the 9th century. 8). A Fengkai unglazed jar with six usually found from the shipwrecks handles, with the original fiber ropes on the maritime trade routes in still strung together in all handles, the Mediterranean Sea; but the ar- from at least two kilns, specifically with a brown clay body was approxi- chaeologists do not believe that the Guanchong kilns in Xinhui and mately dated to the first half of the the amphorae came across from the Fengkai kilns, both kilns situated 9th century, similar to the Guan- those regions to Southeast Asia. in Guangdong. The Guanchong green chong jar (Fig. 9). glazed jars with four to six handles The last type is Chinese Tang ce- partially glazed only on their upper The current conclusion is that, by ramic shards that were produced part had a flat unglazed base, and taking into account all the evidence, especially the dating of ceramics, as well as all the shipwreck’s assem- blages which were possibly the food- stuffs and consumer goods the sailors needed to survive, the shipwreck can be dated to around the first half of the 9th century or earlier. However, this shipwreck is still under an ongo- ing excavation and in a number of its assemblages the archaeologists can- not know what should be counted as cargo for sale that this ship carried in the past. Its assemblages also show that this ship has a sailing area be- tween the Indian Sea for India or the Middle East, the Gulf of Thailand for Fig. 10 Locations of Phanom Surin shipwreck and Dvaravati cities: current Southeast Asia, and the South China shoreline (blue) and Dvaravati shoreline (black). Phongsi Wanasin and Thiwa Suphachanya (1981) and Dr. Trongjai Hutangkura (2014) Sea for the southern region of China. ..continue next page 3 According to previous research by sunk in the former shallow coastal Malay Peninsula and in the Indone- Phongsi Wanasin and Thiwa Su- waters of the Gulf of Thailand dur- sian Islands (Fig. 10). phachanya in 1981 about the geo- ing a period of ebb tide sometime morphology of the former shore- in the 9th century or earlier and it line of the Gulf of Thailand and the probably arrived to Southeast Asia settlement pattern in the Dvaravati for direct contact with any Dvaravati period during the 5th to 10th cen- ports along the coast of the Gulf of Preeyanuch Jumprom turies, they indicate this shipwreck Thailand or any Srivijaya ports on the [email protected] The Belitung Shipwreck and Its Ceramics Cargo Photos Courtesy of the Seabed Exploration and Sulung Segara Jaya Catalogue and the Research Agency for Marine Affairs and Fisheries Archives, Indonesia The discovery of the Belitung ship- sidiary of the Sentosa Development as The Jewel of Muscat. Flecker wreck and its remarkable cargo wide- Corporation in Singapore. mentioned the keel is 15.5 meters ly known as the “Tang Cargo” could long with stitched hull planking. This be said as one of the largest discov- The Belitung shipwreck and its cargo dhow is estimated to have sailed on eries of underwater archaeological were found at 17 to 18 meters of the Maritime Silk Road from China remains in Indonesia.
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  • The Belitung Shipwreck Controversy
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  • The Lost Dhow Exhibition Opens December 13 at the Aga Khan Museum
    PRESS RELEASE North American Exclusive Premiere Showcases Ancient Cargo Lost at Sea: The Lost Dhow Exhibition Opens December 13 at the Aga Khan Museum Exhibition of rare artifacts from 9th-century China confirms Maritime Silk Route Toronto, December 8, 2014 – Travelling for the first time outside of Singapore for its North American premiere, the exhibition The Lost Dhow: A Discovery from the Maritime Silk Route opens at the Aga Khan Museum on December 13. In 1998 the shallow waters off Belitung Island in the western Java Sea yielded what would prove to be the earliest and most important marine archaeological discovery of the 20th century: a ship laden with gold, silver, and bronze objects — in addition to 57,500 Chinese ceramic artifacts. No human remains were found on board, but coins and other personal effects revealed remarkable details about the crew’s origins. Ultimately identified as an Arab dhow approximately 1,200 years old, the ship provided the first hard evidence of a Maritime Silk Route that saw the vibrant exchange of goods, ideas, and technologies between Tang China and the Abbasid Empire. For the first time ever in North America, a stunning array of artifacts from this cargo is on display at the Aga Khan Museum in Toronto. Jointly organized by the Asian Civilisations Museum of Singapore, the Singapore Tourism Board, and the Aga Khan Museum, the exhibition The Lost Dhow: A Discovery from the Maritime Silk Route runs from December 13, 2014, to April 26, 2015 with a full complement of multi-disciplinary programming. “This exhibition beautifully shows that creative exchanges between China and the Islamic world were fully under way one thousand years ago,” notes Alan Chong, Director of Singapore’s Asian Civilisations Museum.
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