After a year-long underwater archaeological investigation, Chinese archeologists have identified the distribution range of two ancient shipwrecks discovered in 2022 in the South China Sea and unearthed cultural relics totaling 928 pieces, including pottery, porcelain, and timber, China's National Cultural Heritage Administration (NCHA) said on Thursday.

The NCHA held a work meeting on the significant progress of the Archaeology China Program in Qionghai City of south China's Hainan Province on Thursday, reporting the latest achievements of two ancient shipwrecks.
In October 2022, two ancient shipwrecks were discovered at an underwater depth of about 1,500 meters near the northwest continental slope of the South China Sea. The sites are an important witness of trade and cultural exchanges along the ancient Maritime Silk Road.
From May 2023 to June 2024, the National Archaeological Research Center under the NCHA, the Institute of Deep-sea Science and Engineering of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), and the China (Hainan) Museum of the South China Sea jointly conducted an underwater archaeological investigation of two ancient shipwrecks through three stages.
It has now been confirmed that the No.1 shipwreck contains more than 100,000 pieces of artifacts dating back to the reign of Emperor Zhengde of the Ming Dynasty (1506-1521). The No. 2 shipwreck mainly contains a large number of wood logs. It dates back to the reign of Emperor Hongzhi of the Ming Dynasty (1488-1505).
Song Jianzhong, a researcher at the National Archaeological Research Center under the NCHA, stressed that previously unseen artifact types were uncovered at the shipwreck site.
"More importantly, we have found a reign mark on the Honglyucai (Red and Green Color) bowl, indicating that it originated from the Bingyin year, which corresponds to the first year of the reign of Emperor Zhengde in 1506. This completely confirms our previous speculation that the No.1 shipwreck belongs to the Zhengde period. This is the most important finding of our third phase," he said.