(ORDO NEWS) — Specialists completed the lifting of the wreckage of a wooden sailboat from the bottom of the Yangtze River, which was built during the reign of Emperor Tongzhi (1862-1875) of the Qing Dynasty.
At the moment, the agency notes, this ship is one of the largest and well-preserved of all sunken wooden sailboats that have ever been found in China.
It is 38.1 m long and 9.9 m wide and was buried under a layer of silt at a depth of about 5.5 m. The lifting operation began in March this year.
According to archaeological reports, the mainmasts of the vessel with the 31st cabin have been preserved.
Such sailboats with a flat underwater part of the hull were quite widely used for transportation during the reign of the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties.
In 2015, during a sonar survey of the riverbed in the Hengsha area of ​​Chongming Island, an iron ship was found, and after expanding the search area to the north, scientists found a wooden sailboat.
Many exquisite objects were found among its wreckage, including Jingdezhen porcelain and hookah accessories from Vietnam, as well as masts and anchors.
On some porcelain items, marks have been preserved indicating that they were made during the reign of the Tongzhi Emperor, which allowed scientists to roughly date the find.
Around the place where the ship sank, many pieces of pottery and purple clay were found.
Archaeologists believe that studying the find will provide more information about the art of pottery making and the economic history of the Qing Dynasty.
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