Review: Marine Archaeology in Southeast Asia

2012

Heidi Tan (ed) 2012, Maritime Archaeology in Southeast Asia, Innovation and Adaptation, 2012

Researching shipwrecks can contribute to an understanding of past ways of life. In more recent times, maritime archaeology, or maritime and underwater cultural heritage (MUCH) management, has used a number of approaches and disciplines in researching and managing a broader range of related tangible and intangible heritage. A MUCH programme, as with other heritage programs, can help elucidate the cultural identity of a community. Perhaps less appreciated, but also important, is that sites might have different value for different communities, in other words, each site has a multi-vocal value. Within this context, and pursuant to an international agreement on best practices, the UNESCO Convention on the Protection of Underwater Cultural Heritage 2001, this paper will outline how a number of projects and capacity building programs are being implemented. It will provide evidence of the positive outcomes of the capacity building programs run by the Centre for International Heritage Activities (CIE), and the benefits in implementing MUCH programs in Sri Lanka, South Africa, Tanzania, Hong Kong, and Micronesia. The paper will also provide examples of other types of MUCH projects and the contemporary community benefits that maritime archaeologists can provide through their work. Evidence of the multi-vocal values of some sites, and the implications of these values will also be discussed. The MUCH programs described in this paper have had, and continue to face challenges in the same way as developing countries in Southeast Asia face many challenges in implementing effective programs. An initiative that is hoped will assist countries in sub-Saharan Africa is the formation of a group of ten countries that will work together in pursuing strategies and activities to manage their maritime and underwater cultural heritage. This and other examples of coalitions from the developing world working to safeguard their heritage for the benefit of future generations will be summarised in this paper.

Curator: The Museum Journal, 2012

The contentious relationship between cultural heritage professionals and commercial entities is nowhere more fraught than in underwater archeological sites. More and more often, museums are drawn into this conflict through hosting traveling exhibitions. This article explores the ethical issues in two shipwreck exhibitions, Shipwrecked: Tang Treasures and Monsoon Winds, and Real Pirates: The Untold Story of the Whydah from Slave Ship to Pirate Ship, and the specific responses museums have made to address the ethical issues around commercial exploitation of cultural heritage. The article calls for museums to be more thoughtful and deliberate consumers, and embrace their potential as safe venues for exploring ethical dilemmas these sites embody.

This paper explores the ethics of underwater cultural heritage in Indonesia within the context of the commercial excavation of these sites. Focusing specifically on the 9th century ‘Belitung’ shipwreck, discovered in 1998, the article argues that underwater cultural heritage sites become objects, in the heritage sense, only at the point of their excavation. Prior to discovery and excavation, the value of the Belitung wreck as a cultural or historical informant is greatly diminished by its invisibility and virtual inaccessibility. The ethics of commercial underwater excavation remain contested, but this does not exclude the notion that the transition, from hidden to discovered to excavated object, can be posited as a turning point in how underwater cultural heritage sites are valued. By permitting commercial excavation, Indonesia has broadened the potential for these sites beyond in-situ preservation or exposure to unlicensed ‘treasure hunters’. The article ultimately argues that commercial excavation can prompt a reconsideration of how we understand ethics in the context of underwater cultural heritage and attests to the ongoing importance of materiality in heritage considerations.

TAASA Review, 2016

In November 2015, almost two decades after its discovery and excavation, the Tang Shipwreck Collection went on display at its new, permanent home: the Asian Civilisations Museum in Singapore. The exhibition features the cargo of a 9th century dhow, discovered by a sea cucumber diver off the Indonesian island of Belitung in 1998 and believed to be the earliest evidence of maritime trade between the Tang dynasty and the Abbasid caliphate. Since its discovery this dhow and its cargo have come to embody contested areas in the study of underwater cultural heritage. The transformation from submerged cargo to permanent museum exhibit prompts reflection on the ongoing tensions between ethical and commercial approaches to the protection and preservation of underwater cultural heritage, and the extent to which they impact on the heritage landscape and legislation in Indonesia.

"The Indian ships are much bigger than ours. Their bases are made of three boards .. face formidable storms." See, R. H. Major, ed. (1857), "The travels of Niccolo Conti" https://archive.org/stream/indiainfifteenth00majorich#page/n181/mode/2up … The boards are very thick: 9 to 13 cm. Retained widths are usually between 30 and 50 cm, but some are up to 70 cm. The analysis shows that the boards are predominantly cedar wood and sometimes oak. The posts are acacia. The structural parts are made of wood imported from Mediterranean while the connecting pieces are common species in Egypt. Catamarans built in Malabar coast compare with sewn boats of 19th cent. BCE Ain Sukhna, a Red sea port Sewn boats of Kerala CEAlexandrie Feb. 5, 2013 The technique of assembly by lashings is one of the world's oldest for constructing boats. It was in use in antiquity in egypt and in homeric greece. In the present day, this method is still used in the indian ocean, most notably in india itself, at kerala, where, nevertheless, the technique is unfortunately dying out. This film takes us to kerala on the malabar coast, and into a network of lakes and lagoons and canals known as the backwaters, where the last of these "sewn" boats are still employed. We shall follow the work of traditional carpenters who continue to practise this ancient technique and begin to understand its subtleties. Https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtpzpvprmr4 (26:00) Mirror: http://tinyurl.com/hqbne2m Ain Sukhna, (Arabic: العين السخنة‎‎ el-ʿĒn el-Soḵna) archaeological explorations have shown an ancient pharaonic Red Sea port and settlement from which seafaring expeditions were organised. The sewn sailing boats discovered at this site dated to 19th cent. BCE based on a study of ceramic materials and dating of wood by radiocarbonne (14C). Research is ongoing on the techniques used in making the sewn boats studying the techniques used even today in Malabar Coast of Kerala. Preliminry results indicate that the techniques used for making the Ain Sukhna boats and the present-day rafts called catamarans (lit. kaTTUmaram) of Kerala are comparable. See: http://drs.nio.org/drs/bitstream/handle/2264/4029/Int_J_Naut_Archaeol_41_148a.pdf Study of sewn plank built boats of Goa, India http://www.persee.fr/doc/topoi_1161-9473_1993_num_3_2_1485 Lotika Varadarajan, 1993, Indian boat building traditions. The ethnological evidence, Persee, Vol.3, No.2, pp. 547-568. http://somasiridevendra.navy.lk/assets/files/p_research.pdf Sean McGrail, Lucy Blue, Eric Kentley, Colin Palmer, Boats of South Asia Book Review 2004) The hypothesis posited is that boat-builders from the West Coast of India had transferred the technology of building catamarans. "The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea or Periplus of the Red Sea (Greek: Περίπλους τῆς Ἐρυθράς Θαλάσσης, Latin: Periplus Maris Erythraei) is a Greco-Roman periplus, written in Greek (c. 1st-3rd cen.), describing navigation and trading opportunities from Roman Egyptian ports like Berenice along the coast of the Red Sea, and others along Northeast Africa and the Sindh and South western India...Many trade goods are mentioned in the Periplus, but some of the words naming trade goods are seen nowhere else in ancient literature, and so we can only guess as to what they might be. For example, one trade good mentioned is "lakkos chromatinos". The name lakkosappears nowhere else in ancient Greek or Roman literature. The name re-surfaces in late medieval Latin as lacca, borrowed from medieval Arabic lakk in turn borrowed from Sanskritic lakh, meaning lac i.e. a red-colored resin native to India used as a lacquer and used also as a red colorant. Some other named trade goods remain obscure." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Periplus_of_the_Erythraean_Sea# "Hatshepsut who came to the throne of Egypt in 1478 BCE had funded a mission to the Land of Punt.(which could be the horn of Africa close to Rann of Kutch). Five ships, each measuring 70 feet (21 m) long bearing several sails and accommodating 210 men that included sailors and 30 rowers. Many trade goods were bought in Punt, notably frankincense and myrrh." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hatshepsut Noting that several ships of 6th century Greece are sewn boats (assembly by lashings), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (The Centre d'etudes Alexandrines) has presented a splendid video on the techniques of making sewn boats in the Malabar coast of Kerala. These rafts are called கட்டுமரம் kaṭṭu-maram , n. < id. +. 1. Catamaran, used for deep sea fishing; raft made of logs of wood lashed or joined together; மீன்பிடிப்பதற்காக மரங்களாற் பிணைக்கப் பட்ட மிதவை. கோக்காமரம் kōkkā-maram is a seafaring raft: , n. prob. கோ- + கால்¹ +. Loc. 1. A kind of raft or catamaran; கடலிற்செலுத்தும் கட்டுமரவகைகளில் ஒன்று. மேங்கா mēṅkā , n. A kind of catamaran; கடலில் ஓடும் கட்டுமரவகை. Loc. Ancient Polynesian catamaran (developed as early as 1500 BCE) Catamaran, Tamil Nadu. கடப்பா kaṭappā, n. perh. கட்டு- + பாய். Sail of a catamaran; கட்டுமரத்திற் கட்டும் பாய். Loc. மடி³ maṭi Double catamaran; இரட்டைக் கட்டுமரம். (G. Tn. D. I, 229.) Hieroglyphs: 1. lathe; 2. body formed of two or more animals: G. sãghāṛɔ m. ʻ lathe ʼ; M. sãgaḍ f. ʻ a body formed of two or more fruits or animals or men &c. linked together, part of a turner's apparatus ʼ,sã̄gāḍā m. ʻ frame of a building ʼ, °ḍī f. ʻlatheʼCDIAL 12859) Double-canoe, raft: saṁghāṭa m. ʻ fitting and joining of timber ʼ R. [√ghaṭ] Pa. nāvā -- saṅghāṭa -- , dāru -- s° ʻ raft ʼ; Pk. saṁghāḍa -- , °ḍaga -- m., °ḍī -- f. ʻ pair ʼ; M. sãgaḍ m.f. ʻ float made of two canoes joined together ʼ (LM 417 compares saggarai at Limurike in the Periplus, Tam. śaṅgaḍam, Tu. jaṅgala ʻ double -- canoe ʼ), Si. san̆gaḷa ʻ pair ʼ, han̆guḷa, an̆g° ʻ double canoe, raft ʼ (CDIAL 12859) Boats of Ayn Sukhna (French original and bibliography appended) August 10, 2014 | by Francis Leveque | * Fr | wood | 2nd half of the third millennium BC. AD | Egypt (Upper Egypt) (Egypt) The site of Ayn Sukhna on the Egyptian shores of the Gulf of Suez (70 km south of Suez) delivered archaeologists 2 vessels used in the Middle Kingdom. Ongoing excavations have been conducted since 2001 by a Franco-Egyptian team led by prof. Mahmoud Abd el-Zaziq (University of Suez), Dr. Georges Castel (IFAO) and prof. Pierre Tallet (University of Paris IV-Sorbonne). The site The site has many inscriptions evoking maritime expeditions in the Middle Kingdom by Mantouhotep Pharaohs (Eleventh Dynasty, the early twentieth century. BC.), Amenemhat II, Sesostris I, Amenemhet III (twelfth dynasty, first quarter the second millennium). Excavations have also revealed the seals of the fourth and fifth dynasties pharaohs, which traces the use of the site to the High Empire (middle of the third millennium). The site consists of tunnels dug into the rock to serve as warehouses, buildings, copper ore processing plants. The galleries are located approximately 500 m from the shore. Among the 6 galleries, 3 of them the access is through a building built under the High Empire. Two other (G2 and G9 galleries) are freely and still retained the dismantled wooden boats. They are about 20 meters long, 3 meters wide and 2 meters high. However the storage timber were burned and reduced to the state of charcoal (the ceiling collapsed during the fire, the fire was smothered and continued smoldering). The best preserved parts of the G2 gallery could be consolidated and removed to a laboratory study. But parts of the G9 gallery were studied in situ. Woods The planks were carefully arranged, superimposed on an unknown height but that exceeded 70 cm G9 gallery and isolated from soil by wedges. The whole was bound by ropes. Have been identified very long parts forming the shell and a thicker which served as a keel. Other pieces in the particular morphology formed the ends. However there is a lack of structural members, superstructure and rigging. Several hypotheses: either they do not exist or they were on top and completely burned, or they are stored elsewhere in a still gallery to find. The boards are very thick: 9 to 13 cm. Retained widths are usually between 30 and 50 cm, but some are up to 70 cm. The analysis shows that the boards are predominantly cedar wood and sometimes oak. The posts are acacia. The structural parts are made of wood imported from Mediterranean while the connecting pieces are common species in Egypt. The boards retain their assemblies combining two complementary, not exclusive techniques: - Like a system resembling strips of wood taking place in mortise. The posts 7 cm wide, 2 cm thick and the depth of the mortise can reach 15 cm. - Cords of a ligating system passing loop in mortises L cut along the edges of the boards to be joined (0.5 cm diam.). There are a dozen cords by ligation. Sometimes pins (diam. 2 to 3 cm) complete the above assemblies. the anchors Gallery 9 contained two large limestone anchors, weighing respectively 80 and 100 kg.

and Keywords Ships form a critical component of the study of Southeast Asia's interaction both within itself as well as with the major centers of Asia and the West. Shipwreck data, accrued from archaeologically excavated shipwreck sites, provide information on the evolving maritime traditions that traversed Southeast Asian waters over the last two millennia, including shipbuilding and navigational technologies and knowledge, usage of construction materials and techniques, types of commodities carried by the shipping networks, shipping passages developed through Southeast Asia, and the key ports of call that vessels would arrive at as part of the network of economic and social exchanges that came to characterize maritime interactions.

Evidences for tin provided by archaeometallurgical investigations are exemplars of the Tin-Bronze Revolution which started ca. 5th millennium BCE when the problem of scarcity of arsenical bronzes was oveercome by the invention of a tin-bronze alloy. The tin (cassiterite ore) resource came from the largest Tin belt of the globe in Ancient Far East by the Himalayan rivers grinding down granite rocks to accumulate huge tin ore placer deposits on the Mekong, Irawaddy, Salween river basins. These resources reached through an Ancient Maritime Tin Route to all parts of Eurasia, mediated by Indian metalsmiths and seafaring Meluhha merchant guilds. This monograph presents archaeometallurgical and maritime trade evidences of ca. 2nd millennium BCE of a wreck of a catamaran in Ayn Sukhna and discovery of three pure tin ingots with Indus Script inscriptions in Haifa, Israel. The Tin-Bronze mirror of Rakhigarhi is significant because the alloy containa about 27% tin. Where did the tin come from? Link of India with Haifa seen in three tin ingots with Indus Script discovered in a shipwreck in Haifa, ca. 2nd millennium BCE https://tinyurl.com/ybnqkxtz The monograph demonstrates the readings and meanings of the epigraphs on the three pure tin ingots: ranku dhatu muh 'tin mineral ingot' ranku 'antelope', ranku 'liquid measure' rebus: ranku 'tin' muh 'face' rebus: muh 'ingot' dATu 'cross' rebus: dhatu 'mineral. Videgha Māthava, Gotama Rahugaṇa (ŚBr) করতোয়া নদী Karatoya river is Sadānīra (Amara) and close to the tinbelt of the globe to unleash Tin-Bronze revolution (ca.4th m.BCE) https://tinyurl.com/y8d4yen4 করতোয়া নদী Amara Kośa asserts Sadānīra to be synonym of Karatoya River. See: सदानीरा स्त्री सदा नीरं पेयमस्याः । करतोयानद्याम् अमरः । “अथादौ कर्कटे देवी त्र्यहं गङ्गा रजस्वला । सर्वा रक्तवहा नद्यः करतोयाम्बुवाहिनी” स्मृत्युक्तेः तन्नदीजलस्य सदापेयत्वात् तस्यास्तथात्वम् । Source: https://sa.wikisource.org/wiki/वाचस्पत्यम् Karatoya Mahatmya refers to the sacredness of this river. Rivers Kosi and Mahananda joined the Karatoya and "formed a sort of ethnic boundary between people living south of it and the Kochs and Kiratas living north of the river." (Majumdar, Dr. R.C., History of Ancient Bengal, First published 1971, Reprint 2005, p. 4, Tulshi Prakashani, Kolkata.) Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa provides a detailed account of the movement of people (Videgha Māthava, Gotama Rahugaṇa) from River Sarasvati to River Sadānīra. The location of this river is central to the history of Pre-Mauryan era Bhāratam Janam (RV 3.53.12). The region of these people has been identified in this monograph and relates to the ironwork of the Bronze Age Sarasvati Civilization. It is possible that both Brahmautra and Ganga river systems were waterways which provided for maritime transport of tin ore from the Himalayan riverbasins (Irrawaddy, Salween, Mekong) which contain the richest and largest tin belt of the globe (as the rivers ground down graniterocks to create the cassiterite -- tin ore -- deposit accumulations as placer deposits). Sources of tin were critical to unleash the Tin-Bronze Industrial Revolution of ca. 4th millennium BCE. "Mâthava, the Videgha, was at that time on the (river) Sarasvatî. He (Agni) thence went burning along this earth towards the east; and Gotama Râhûgana and the Videgha Mâthava followed after him as he was burning along. He burnt over (dried up) all these rivers. Now that (river), which is called ‘Sadânîrâ,’ flows from the northern (Himâlaya) mountain: that one he did not burn over. That one the Brâhmans did not cross in former times, thinking, ‘it has not been burnt over by Agni Vaisvânara.’ Now-a-days, however, there are many Brâhmans to the east of it. At that time it (the land east of the Sadânîrâ) was very uncultivated, very marshy, because it had not been tasted by Agni Vaisvânara. Now-a-days, however, it is very cultivated, for the Brâhmans have caused (Agni) to taste it through sacrifices. Even in late summer that (river), as it were, rages along: so cold is it, not having been burnt over by Agni Vaisvânara. Mâthava, the Videgha, then said (to Agni), ‘Where am I to abide?’ ‘To the east of this (river) be thy abode!’ said he. Even now this (river) forms the boundary of the Kosalas and Videhas; for these are the Mâthavas (or descendants of Mâthava). (Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa 1.4) "Rennel made a survey between 1764 and 1777 and his maps are one of the earliest authentic maps of Bengal in existence. In these maps Teesta is shown as flowing through North Bengal in several branches—Punarbhaba, Atrai, Karatoya etc. All these streams combined lower down with the Mahananda, now the westernmost river in North Bengal, and taking the name of Hoorsagar finally discharged into the Ganges at Jafarganj, near modern Goalundo." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karatoya_River Rennel's map (Bangalir Itihas by Niharranjan Roy . The map was published in 1764-66.) Aitereya Aryanaka of 8th-7th century BC, the Pundra group of people who lived east of the Sadānīra river. puṇḍra2 m. ʻ name of a people ʼ AitBr., °aka -- m. Mn. [Orig. ʻ light -- skinned ʼ and same as puṇḍra -- 1? Cf. pāṇḍú -- , pāṇḍa -- ~ Pāṇḍu -- , Pāṇḍa -- (J. C.W.)]B. pũṛi ʻ name of a caste ʼ.(CDIAL 8260) Karatoya River near Mahasthangarh Ramparts of the Mahasthangarh citadel Mahasthangarh Museum, Bogra, Bangladesh wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahasthangarh পুন্ড্রবর্ধন with capital city: মহাস্থানগড় Môhasthangôṛ See Bogra on the banks of Karatoya (spelled Korotoa on the map) river. মহাস্থানগড় Môhasthangôṛ is close to Bogra. Rakhigarhi, capital of Sarasvati civilization is on the ridge formed by water-divide of Aravalli range https://tinyurl.com/ycs496a6 -- on the Ancient Maritime Tin Route through linked navigable Himalayan waterways from Ancient Far East to Ancient Near East. I suggest proclamation and constitution of two multi-disciplinary project teams involving archaeology, history, language studies, geochemistry, and geology for researches on: 1. Largest tin belt of the globe in AFE and role of seafaring merchants and artisans of India during the Tin-Bronze Revolution; 2. significance of Rakhigarhi as the link between Ancient Far East and Ancient Near East through navigable Himalayan riverine waterways and maritime trade through Indian Ocean Rim. I suggest that the remarkable work done by Deccan College Archaeology team in the excavations of Rakhigarhi should be expanded further by making the Deccan College a nodel networking agency for the following research missions for two multi-disciplinary projects involving archaeology, history, language studies, geochemistry, and geology: 1. To establish the sources of Tin ores for the Tin-Bronze revolution in Ancient Far East and the role played by ancient Indian seafaring merchants and artisans in reaching the tin ore resource into all parts of Eurasia; and 2. To establish the significance of Himalayan riverwaterys (Mekong, Irrawaddy, Salween, Brahmaputra (karatoya), Ganga, Yamuna, Sarasvati, Sindhu) and links to the Indian Ocean Maritime routes (through Persian Gulf and Malacca straits) to enhance the importance of an Ancient Maritime Tin Route which linked Hanoi (Vietnam) and Haifa (Israel) through ancient India. There is a distinct indication that the Ancient Maritime Tin Route mediated by Ancient India pre-dated the Silk road by two millennia, authenticated by Indus Script evidence on tin ingots of Haifa and on Dong Son/Karen Bronze drums of AFE. These two missions are complementary to a remarkable Europe Research Council Project (overview presented below) which is engaged in the resolution of the unsolved problem of sources of tin which created the Tin-Bronze Revolution from 5th millennium BCE. BRONZE AGE TIN is a multidisciplinary project funded by the European Research Council comprising archaeology, history, geochemistry, and geology, conducted by scientists from the University of Heidelberg and the Curt-Engelhorn-Zentrum Archäometrie in Mannheim.which is called a multi-disciplinary initiative called CEZ ARCHAEOMETRIE GGMBH (Visiting address: D6, 3 and C4, 868159 Mannheim, GermanyPhone +49 621 293 8947 Fax +49 621 293 3828) .The objective is to decipher the enigma of the origin of tin in the early bronzes by combining new archeological data and tin isotope ratios. These bronzes appear in a wide area stretching from the Aegean to the Persian Gulf, but this region is geologically devoid of any tin deposits.http://www.cez-archaeometrie.de/?cat=53&lang=en The location of Rakhigarhi as the capital pattaṇa (riverine port) of Sarasvati Civilization is central to these missions, because Rakhigarhi is location on the ridge of the Aravalli range which constitues the water-divide between 1. west-flowing rivers of Sarasvati (Drishadvati, Chautan), Ghaggar and Sindhu and 2. east-flowing rivers of Yamuna-Ganga-Brahmaputra proximate to other Himalayan river systems of Mekong, Irrawaddy and Salween in Ancient Far East (AFE). These riverine waterways make Rakhigarhi the nodal site which managed resources of tin ores from AFE; copper/zinc ores of Khetri mineral-belt; iron ore resources of Ganga-Brahmaputra basins and progressed archaeometallurgical advances to proclaim a true Metals Age, complementing the domestication of rice, cereals, cotton cultivation and sericulture to make ancient India the richest nation on the globe contributing to 33% of Global GDP by 1 Common Era (pace Angus Madsison)..

The waterways of the Western Archipelago of Indonesia were of high importance for early intra-Asian sea trade. Maritime crossroads in Sumatran waters, particularly the Straits of Bangka, Gaspar and Karimata formed the most frequented sea lanes. Trading ships coming from the Straits of Melaka, the Gulf of Siam and the South China Sea entered the Java Sea through these water passages. By presenting unpublished survey reports on shipwreck sites conducted in this area, I wish to investigate the connective function of these maritime passages in the history of commerce and communication. The archaeological finds portray the various functions of these major sea straits in Asia. Discovered from 2007 to 2010, the wreck sites from the 10th to the 19th century were found partly furnished with large cargos, but most of them had already been disturbed or looted. This large number of archaeological discoveries highlights the fact that the official count of shipwrecks is far too small. There is an urgent need for establishing a find distribution map for historic wreck sites in order to protect these sites.

Alison Effeny | Michael Flecker | John Guy | Jessica hallett | hsieh Ming-liang | Regina Krahl Li baoping with chen yuh-shiow and nigel Wood | Liu yang | François Louis | Qi dongfang tom Vosmer | Wang Gungwu | J. Keith Wilson Arthur M. sackler Gallery, smithsonian institution, Washington, d.c. national heritage board of singapore singapore tourism board