Salvage Excavation of 400 Year-Old Merchant Vessel Underway off Coast of Guangdong Province

If you remember THIS post from a while back, you’ll already know that several months ago, an 800 year-old merchant vessel dubbed “Nanhai No. 1” was successfully located and excavated from the coastal waters of Guangdong Province. Well, recently, another vessel, this one called “Nan’ao-1,” dated roughly 400 year old was found, and salvage excavation is now underway.

According to the report from Xinhuanews, the plan is to excavate the more than 10,000 pieces of locally produced, Ming Dynasty porcelains that were the ship’s main cargo, and then attempt to raise the remains of the ship itself for further study. The excavators claim that “the excavation of the ship will help us learn more about China’s foreign trade at that time.”

The article also notes that the project has been postponed several months due to poor weather and working conditions, but no mention was made of how the finds will be preserved. “Nanhai No. 1” is currently being kept “…in a glass pool at a local museum, the water there duplicating the conditions in which the wreck was found.”

Hopefully, a similar arrangement will be made for “Nan’ao-1.”

Interestingly, these articles never go into full detail about either the projects, of the preservation conditions of the finds… or what happens to the artifacts after they are excavated…something to keep in mind. However, that they claim to be doing the up most to preserve the wreckages is promising.

What this newest excavation shows, however, is that Guangdong’s coastal waters are rapidly becoming a hotbed of underwater archaeology in China, which is itself a budding discipline. It will be interesting to see, in the future, whether Western scholars will be allowed to participate in such projects and whether Chinese underwater archaeology can become a “next big thing.” It also makes me wonder what the state of underwater looting is in China… a subject that has not yet been broached on many fronts. Does anyone out there in the blogosphere have any information on it? I’ll try to do some digging on the subject, but my gut instinct says that somehow, it is not as developed in China as it is in other areas of the word…. prove me wrong!

So far in China, according to the report, salvage archaeology and underwater archaeology is still very much a state-run enterprise.

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NEW VIDEO: the ongoing destruction of Kashgar

SAFE has posted a link to a new article from The Guardian about the ongoing bulldozing of Kashgar’s Oldtown.

Check it out HERE

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Check out the new SAFECORNER post written by Ana Escobedo!

On August 1st, Ana Escobedo, the magnificent high schooler from california that has been spearheading the SAVE Kashgar Facebook initiative and petition (Petition and Cause Page both linked on the RIGHT —–>) published an article on SAFECORNER about how she got involved in the Kashgar initiative, and what protecting worthwhile cultural heritage sites means to her. Check out her well-written article HERE.

I have selected and reproduced here a few choice excerpts from her essay in order to tantalize your reader tastebuds:

To raise awareness for the cause and to rally supporters behind SAFE’s message I created a Facebook Cause page which I named “Save Kashgar ”. I loaded it with whatever information I had available to me at the time, which was only a few articles and the information I had gained from the SAFECORNER editorial. Later I was able to set up a Flickr group to create a photo documentation of the Old City. I also set up a petition appealing to the Chinese Cultural Minister to save what remained of the cultural heritage of this city. However, it quickly became apparent to me that this was so much more than a demolition of a city. It was the destruction of the Uyghur culture. A culture that had existed for hundreds of years in this location was being wiped out.

In an effort to find recruits to my newly formed cause page I reached out to the Uyghur and Archaeology related groups on Facebook. It was at this moment when I discovered I was not alone in this fight. I went to every group I could think of to let them know about what I was doing, but everywhere I went I found links to other Kashgar related Facebook pages. Groups such as “Save Kashgar, Xinjiang, China from Demolition!” and “Saving Kashgar” encouraged followers to raise their voices against the destruction. The creator of “Save Kashgar, Xinjiang, China from Demolition!,” Nikhat Rasheed, is responsible for aYouTube video further demonstrating the importance of Kashgar to the Uyghurs and the world. Her group has also sponsored an event in Toronto, Canada to show solidarity with the Uyghur people. On July 1, 2009, a group of Uyghurs performed a traditional dance in celebration of Canada Day. Members of this Facebook group attended, furthering the public display of unity with the Uyghur cause. Ms. Rasheed has also written a wildly popular petition that has raised almost 7,000 signatures in a short period of time. Another Facebook Cause page “Save Kashgar!,” created by dedicated advocate Miriam J. Woods, has generated a petition that has already received over 1,000 signatures. This petition asks President Obama and Congress to appeal to the Chinese government to cease the demolition. Her cause page is raising money for the Uyghur American Association/Uyghur Human Rights Project.

Before I saw the issue from my point of view as an archaeologist, but after these varied and passionate communications I saw that this was a human crisis. What has amazed me most over these past two months has been the number of people reaching out to me, telling me their story, letting me know that Kashgar was important to them too.

People like Marc Forster, the filmmaker responsible for films such as “Monster’s Ball,” “Finding Neverland” and “Quantum of Solace” are rallying behind the cause.

Kashgar has evoked an impassioned and ever-growing response, in me and many others. More and more people from around the world are reaching out and speaking out against this demolition and the destruction of a culture.

As for me, my heart goes out the Uyghurs who are losing the heart of their civilization. I will continue to support in the best way I can. My cause page is closing in on 700 members and it is my hope that I can continue to reach these people and keep them united in this work against this cultural and human crime.

Thanks Ana, for sharing with us not only your experience working on this important project, but also helping to organize and unite all the different interest groups so that we may have a common goal.

– Chiarch

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Official Statement from the archaeological community regarding the ongoing destruction of Old Kashgar

Today, the official statement of concern about the ongoing demolition of Old Kashgar was released by SAFE (Saving Antiquities for Everyone). It can be found HERE.

The letter is addressed to  Mr. Francesco Bandarin, the director of UNESCO World Heritage based in Paris, France, which is in charge of the nomination of World Heritage sites around the world. The Silk Road has been on the nomination list for several years, and this letter urges the World Heritage committee to reconsider adding Kashgar to The Silk Road nomination (the reasons for why Kashgar was not orignally a part of the Silk Road package speaks volumes about how political these nominations can be…).

A copy of the letter has reproduced here. Just for you. Enjoy, and once again, please sign the petitions linked in the right-hand columns of this page if you want to voice your concerns about the destruction of archaoelogical and cultural heritage in Kashgar.

THROUGH COORDINATED ACTION AND MEASURED DIALOG, THE UNDERSIGNED BELIEVE THAT WE CAN SAVE ONE THE JEWELS OF THE SILK ROAD BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE.

July 6, 2009
Mr. Francesco Bandarin
Director
UNESCO World Heritage Centre
7, place de Fontenoy
75352 Paris, France

Dear Mr. Bandarin:

We write to convey our profound concern for the ancient city of Kashgar in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of Northwest China and urge you to exert your influence to have the city included in the Chinese portion of the Silk Road being considered for the World Heritage List.

Reportedly, 85% of the ancient portion of the city is under demolition. The stated reason is that the old buildings are susceptible to earthquakes and pose a danger to residents. Though we support taking measures to ensure the safety of citizens, we are concerned that the demolition of Old Kashgar will deal a serious blow to the cultural heritage and archaeological patrimony of the Uyghur people, China, and all mankind.

Since Old Kashgar was a key transit point on the Northern Steppe Route of the Silk Road, it is startling to discover that this fabled oasis city has not been included in the World Heritage List proposal. Besides having been an important Silk Road trading post, Old Kashgar is an historic center of Islamic and Uyghur culture, being the home of China’s largest mosque as well as the holiest Muslim site in Xinjiang, the tomb of Abakh Khoja. According to historian George Michell, author of the 2008 book Kashgar: Oasis City on China’s Old Silk Road, Old Kashgar is “the best preserved example of a traditional Islamic city to be found anywhere in Central Asia.”

Given the city’s vast tangible and intangible cultural heritage, we believe that considering the Silk Road for the World Heritage List without including Old Kashgar would be an incomplete designation. According to the Operational Guidelines for the Implementation of the World Heritage Convention, “To be deemed of outstanding universal value, a property must also meet the conditions of integrity and/or authenticity and must have adequate protection and management system to ensure its safeguarding.” We believe Old Kashgar meets the criteria for cultural heritage under the Assessment of Outstanding Universal Value.

China’s present treatment of Kashgar is all the more perplexing when one considers that as recently as 2007, the country appeared to be committed to preserving the old city in a way that respected its heritage and complied with international expectations. In that year, according to published reports, the Xinjiang Construction Department organized a group of experts to begin assessing an urban preservation plan for Kashgar. Among the topics discussed were how to preserve the old town, how to further study the relationship between Kashgar’s modern condition and its rich cultural past, and how to protect Kashgar’s tangible and intangible cultural heritage.

The fact that this seminar was held with official sanction proves that China is capable of protecting historical sites within its borders if it so chooses. In fact, Chinese law supports our view. Articles 16-18 of the Law of the People’s Republic of China for the Protection of Cultural Relics, as amended and adopted in 2002, stipulate that protective measures for immovable cultural relics must be taken before beginning any and all construction activities, including drilling, digging, or blasting. These articles also require that devices for the preservation of cultural relics must be included in the design plan of any new construction project undertaken.

So China has a demonstrable commitment to protecting her past. What the country needs now is international support. Thus we ask the World Heritage Convention to confer with its colleagues in China to clarify the plans for Kashgar’s fate, and also to reconsider including this important historical site as part of the Chinese portion of the Silk Road nominated for World Heritage Site status.

In addition, we respectfully urge the World Heritage Convention to try to persuade the Chinese authorities to heed the Xinjiang Construction Department’s suggestions to either preserve Kashgar or conduct salvage archaeology to mitigate the destruction. For example: has a detailed photographic survey or documentation of Old Kashgar been conducted so that it would be possible to reconstruct the ancient quarter?

Finally, we urge the Chinese government to consider conducting a serious evaluation of the cultural and historical importance of what is left of Old Kashgar, utilizing professional archaeologists in the area and volunteer experts who, we are convinced, will consult if given the opportunity. Not doing so would violate the spirit and letter of the World Heritage Convention.

In so many other contexts, the Chinese government has shown it knows the country’s past belongs to all the Chinese people and indeed all the people of the world. It is important that the material remains of China’s long and illustrious past be protected, conserved, and studied so that the world might know of its great contributions to human society. Destroying the ancient portions of Kashgar without first undertaking a comprehensive photographic survey and salvage archaeology will damage China’s reputation for scholarship and result in the loss of an opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of China’s role in the history of Central Asia. It is for these reasons that we voice our very grave concerns about the destruction of Old Kashgar.

Respectfully,

Dr. Claire Alix, Research Associate, Alaska Quaternary Center, University of Alaska Fairbanks

Dr. Graeme Barker, Director, McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research

Joyce Clark, Board member of Heritage Watch

Lawrence S. Coben, Executive Director, Sustainable Preservation Initiative

Dr. Clemency Coggins, Professor of Archaeology and of Art History, Boston University

Dr. Margaret Conkey, President, The Society for American Archaeology

Dr. Laura Flusche, Assistant Academic Dean, University of Dallas

Dr. Donny George, Stony Brook University, former Director of the Iraq Museum

Cindy Ho, President, SAFE/Saving Antiquities for Everyone

Dr. David Koester, Director of Global Studies and Associate Professor, Department of Anthropology, University of Alaska Fairbanks

Dr. Richard M. Leventhal, Cultural Heritage Center at Penn, University of Pennsylvania

Dr. Tod A. Marder, Professor II, Department of Art History, Director, Certificate Program in Historic Preservation, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

Susan McCabe, President, Society for Asian Art

Dr. Dougald O’Reilly, Director, Heritage Watch

Dr. Richard M. Pettigrew, President and Executive Director, Archaeological Legacy Institute

Professor Lord Colin Renfrew, Senior Fellow, McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research

Dr. C. Brian Rose, President, Archaeological Institute of America

Dr. Lawrence Rothfield, former Director, Cultural Policy Center, University of Chicago

Dr. Lucille A. Roussin, J.D.

Dr. Donald H. Sanders, President, The Institute for the Visualization of History, Inc.

Barnea Levi Selavan, Co-Director, Foundation Stone

Alim Seytoff, General Secretary, Uyghur American Association/Uyghur Human Rights Project, Representative for the World Uyghur Congress and the International Uyghur Human Rights and Democracy Foundation

Dr. Charles Stanish, Director, Cotsen Institute of Archaeology at UCLA

Dr. Gil J. Stein, Director, the Oriental Institute and Professor, University of Chicago

Nadia Tarzi, Executive Director Association for the Protection of Afghan Archaeology

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Uigher Protests in Urumqi and their Potential Influence on the Archaeological Heritage of the Region

Most of you should be aware, by now, of the protests against ethnic discrimination and religious intolerance that are currently going on in Urumqi, the capital city of the Chinese province of Xinjiang.

My question is: what, if any, reprocussions does this have on the cultural heritage of the area? specifically, the ongoing demolition of the Old City of Kashgar (seen on the map below)?

Image taken from the Washingtonpost.com

First, a little background: For the past three days, violence has beeen erupting between the Han Chinese and the Uighurs, who area Turkic ethnic group and practice Islam, but who have inhabited the Xinjiang area for millenia.

The clashes have been over, primarily, the increasing marginalization felt by the Uighurs at the hand of the Han Chinese. They (the Uighurs) feel that they have been suppressed and overruled in what they consider to be their own territory by the Han Chinese who are ethnically different, do not practice their religion, do no speak Uighur language, and deny them access to fair competition in education and business.

Until recent years, the province of Xinjiang was only lightly inhabited by Han Chinese because of its arid climate and desert terrain (the feared Taklamakan Desert of Central Asian fame makes up the heart of this province) and its distance from major Chinese cities like Beijing and Shanghai. For the most part, this area was left to the Uighur population to inhabit as they have been for centuries (hence: Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region). However, in the last couple of decades, more and more Han Chinese have settled in the region, mostly on govt. incentives (sort of the way Tibet has been settled by Han Chinese who were bussed in from Sichuan). It seems as though here is another veiled attempt at suppression through ethnic majority, something that has become somewhat of China’s M.O. for dealing with ethnic minorities in their border regions (Tibet being a case-in-point).

But what reprocussions might this ethnic clash have on the area besides a political and media nightmare? Well, if you recall the contents of several previous posts on this blog, as well as THIS news article, you’ll remember that the ancient city of Kashgar is located in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region. Now, the demolition of the majority of Kashgar’s Old City, the historic district in the very centre of the modern city of Kashgar where most of the historic and archaeological remains of Islamic and Uighur culture are situated, has been going on for months (and has been years in the making), and until the recent violence, it has all but been forgotten by western media. I do not believe, however, that the two incidents are unrelated.

It may very well be that part of what fuels the anger felt by the Uighurs towards the Han Chinese includes the demolition of Kashgar’s Old City. To them, the destruction of Old Kashgar might have been the last straw in a slow and drawn-out silent extermination of their culture. A straw that may have served to incite anger in those who feel wronged by the Han Chinese and the Chinese government.

Unfortunately, it may very well be too late for what remains of Kashgar’s Old Town (as supposedly, 85% of the historic district has already been destroyed), but does the recent uproar from the Uighur community against complete ethnic integration and assimilation mean that more historic districts are soon to be torn down? Will the protests only serve to expedite the controlled destruction of cultural heritage in the Xinjiang area? The current progression of events in Xinjiang, especially Wang Lequan’s hardline policies towards the suppression of potential Uighur seperatists, do not make me hopeful that something like the protection of archaeological heritage will rank high on anyone’s list.

It is unfortunate that in many cases, especially in countries where totalitarianism reigns supreme, that archaeological and cultural patrimony fall victim to political whims. The legacy of Central Asia, an area of the world where whispered political struggles have been played out silently for centuries, has been savagely compromised at the hands of changing political regimes. It is unfortunate that such a rich historical and archaeological cache is slowly being destroyed without much of a chance for salvage.

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ICOMOS Letter to PRC

A couple of days ago, an open letter addressed to the government of the PRC was posted on the Beijing Cultural Heritage Protection Center‘s website. Check it out HERE.

It was written by the ICOMOS International Scientific Committee on Earthen Architectural Heritage (ISCEAH), and is in regards to the ongoing demolition of Kashgar’s Old Town. Some of the main points that are suggested instead of a whole-sale demolition of the area are:

Consideration of tried and proven methods of seismic retrofitting for mudbrick structures to  allow a reappraisal of current plans and preserve as much as possible of the Old City intact;

Review of current plans for inhabitant relocation and redevelopment of the area in light of seismic retrofitting and continued sustainable use of the historic city;

Development of a Conservation Management Plan. This would delimit the site and design appropriate mechanisms for the protection and conservation of the buildings. Such a plan would include the documentation of the extant structures, including recording and analysis of building types, use, and circulation patterns within the Old City. Such a plan would integrate the preservation of the historic fabric, related intangible heritage, and encourage continued safe and economically viable habitation of the historic urban settlement.

ICOMOS is the International Council on Monuments and Sites, and is a Paris based association of professionals that “works for the conservation and protection of cultural heritage places.” It is a non-government organization, and is “dedicated to promoting the application of theory, methodology, and scientific techniques to the conservation of the architectural and archaeological heritage.”

JOIN ICOMOS, or simply learn more about it HERE.

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Mt. Wutai added to UNESCO World Heritage List

A short announcement came out on the 24th of June that China was nominating 2 sites to UNESCO’s World Heritage List in an attempt to replace Germany’s Dresden Elbe Valley, which was removed due to construction of a bridge in the centre of the valley.

Yesterday, Xinhua.net announced that Mt. Wutai was successfully inscribed on the list, saying that “the buildings on the site present a catalogue of the way Buddhist architecture developed and influenced palace building in China over more than a millennium.”

Indeed, Mt. Wutai, which is located in the province of Shanxi, China, is one of the most important Buddhist sites in China, with over 53 sacred monastaries situated around its 5 rounded peaks. It is also home of China’s oldest extant wooden structure, which dates to the Tang Dynasty (618 – 907 A.D.). Another important individual site located on the mountain that UNESCO aims to protect is the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 A.D.) Shuxiang Temple that “contains a huge complex of 500 statues representing Buddhist stories woven into three dimensional pictures of mountains and water.”

In my opinion, this is all well and good, but what about Kashgar?

Image of some of the Buddhist temples situated around Mt. Wutai's 5 peaks

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Zhoukoudian Locality 1 in danger of collapse!

A news article came out today that rescue excavations will commence immediately at the Zhoukoudian Cave Site that is located 50 kilometers SW of Beijing.

Location of of the Zhoukoudian Cave Site

According to the report, the excavation will last for 4 months, and is intended not only to shore up a large fracture that has appeared on the ceiling of the cave due to natural erosion, but also to answer some important research questions that had not been fully explored when the cave was last excavated in the 1980s.

The Zhoukoudian site is most well known was being the place where Peking Man was discovered in the 1920s, first by Swedish archaeologist Johan Gunner Andersson, and later on by Chinese scholars. Peking Man is considered to be one of the oldest hominid fossils yet discovered in China, and puts human occupation in north China as early as 500,000 years ago.

Gao Xing, a Paleoanthropologist from the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) says that:

The excavation will help us understand in a more detailed way when humans settled down in the cave, when they began to use fire, what and when major climate changes occurred.

One of the most debated and interesting aspects of Peking Man, and Locality 1 at Zhoukoudian, is Peking Man’s supposed use and mastery of fire. This is an idea that is still widely accepted and believed in China, though some western scholars have begun to doubt this claim’s validity. In the late 1990s, a team of archaeologists lead by professor Paul Goldberg of Boston University conducted micromopholocial analysis on the soil layers of the site, and found that the ashy deposits that scholars had until then been believing were evidence of hearths and fire burning activities at the site were in fact washed in by water, and not evidence of burning at all. The report of what they found can be read HERE, at Boston University’s website for their Department of Archaeology.

Image of Zhoukoudian Locality 1. Taken from:http://people.bu.edu/paulberg/china_zh.html

The archaeologists working at the site this time around hope that by conducting rescue archaeology, they will be able to prove, once and for all, whether or not these deposits are evidence of fire usage, and if fire was ever mastered by Peking Man.

It should be noted that the Zhoukoudian site IS listed as a UNESCO world heritage site, and thus its protection should be of the highest priority.

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Even more SAVE KASHGAR Facebook and Petition Initiatives

Just got wind of yet another set of initiatives aimed at garnering attention and awareness of the ongoing demolition of Old Kashgar that has been in the news lately (if you’ve been paying attention to the side headlines in your national newspaper).

HERE is yet another “SAVE KASHGAR” Facebook group that posts some interesting events coming up. It was started by a student at the University of Toronto and already has over 150 members.

HERE is another petition on petitiononline.com that aims to petition the UNESCO World Heritage Committee to consider making Kashgar a World Heritage Site. Sounds a lot like what the people over at SAFE are trying to do as well, draw attention to the fact that Kashgar not only deserves to be, but frankly should have been made a World Heritage Site sooner, and NOT after its demolition begins.

Anyways, the petition will herein be permenantly linked on the RIGHT (under “Petitions”). It has over 6000 signatories already, let’s make it 7000!

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For those of you who read Chinese

For anyone who can read Chinese (simplified), or who wants to practice their Chinese, HERE is an interesting article from www.popyard.org, a popular Chinese news website that discusses whether or not the Tomb of Qinshihuang should be excavated.

The famous mausoleum of Qinshihuang, the first emperor of the Qin Dynasty (221 B.C. – 206 B.C.), has reentered the news recently because of the 3rd excavation on the terracotta warriors pits that commenced earlier this month.

The mausoleum of the famed emperor himself has not yet been excavated, however, due to several competing arguments for and against it. First off, as the popyard opinion piece fervently opens with, “excavating the tomb of an ancient emperor for the sake of boosting curiosity and tourism is (should be) absolutely forbidden;” many Chinese feel that excavating this tomb would be akin to sacrilege, and that the tombs of the ancients, especially an ancient as well-known, respected, and somewhat feared as Qinshihuang should be left in peace and admired from afar. Second, even those who advocate for excavating the tomb are hesitant because they fear the corrosive effects of exposing whatever treasures the tomb may have to offer to the air, which has already been demonstrated on the paint once covering the terracotta warriors.

In addition, there are many myths and stories surrounding what may be contained inside that enormous mound that makes up the tomb, including poisoned arrows, rivers of mercury, and a plethora of guardian spirits. All of these stem from the well-known idea that Qinshihuang, during his lifetime, was obsessed with immortality, and took endless pains to ensure that his body and spirit would be preserved long after his death. If the grandiosity of the terracotta warrior pits so far found are any indication of how seriously Qinshihuang might have been about wanting his mortal remains to be protected, the sheer size of his mausoleum has been an effective deterrant for even the most curious Chinese scholar.

On a more practical level, the amount of tourism that the site has garnered in the last several decades has required the Chinese to ensure its protection. As a result this tomb is one of rare exceptions in China that has NOT been looted to within an inch of its life.

The question now is, what benefit would excavating the tomb bring not only to China, but also to the international community? Is the mausoleum better off untouched? Given all of the arguments against excavating it, dangers contained within, issues of conservation and preservation, and the dangers from without (looting), it is hard to imagine that any information about Qinshihuang and his time period that the tomb could tell us would be worth losing such a treasure. Even hard-nosed archaeologists and people who are pro-information gathering, sometimes have a difficult time speaking up against the tide that upholds the importance of keeping THIS tomb intact.

What are your thoughts on the matter?

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