500-Year-Old Shipwrecks Packed With 'Well-Preserved' Porcelain Treasure Found In South China Sea

Two large-sized ancient shipwrecks were recently discovered by Chinese researchers in the South China Sea, a big feat for China in its development of deep-sea archeology.

In an announcement, China's State Administration of Cultural Heritage said that the discovery of the ancient ships, which sailed and returned to the same sea area, proved a historical fact that Chinese ancestors developed, utilized and traveled to and from the South China Sea, per Fox Weather.

"The well-preserved relics are of high historical, scientific and artistic value. It may be a world-class archeological discovery in the deep sea," Yan Yalin, director of archeology at the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, said.

The sunken ships, which appeared to export mainly porcelain and other imported wood, were found about a mile deep in the water on the northwest slope of the sea, about 10 nautical miles apart.

Preliminary judgments of the cultural relics were believed to date as far back as 1506 to 1521 from the Zhengde period of the Ming Dynasty.

In one of the ships, an estimated 100,000 items of mostly porcelain were scattered all over the sea bed, stretching from tens of thousands of square miles. Numerous logs of similar size neatly stacked on the other ship were also found.

Some items could date back to the reign of Emperor Hongzhi (1488-1505).

According to researchers, the ancient shipwrecks loaded goods from overseas before heading to China.

Tang Wei, the director of the Archeological Research Center of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, said the archeological discovery of the two shipwrecks is a "milestone for the development of deep-sea archeology" in China.

"This is the first time that Chinese underwater archeologists have used archeological theories, techniques and methods ... to conduct research on ancient shipwreck sites at a depth of thousands of meters underwater," Tang said.

On the other hand, the State Administration of Cultural Heritage hailed the discovery of the ancient artifacts as proof that China's deep-sea archeology "is moving towards the world's advanced level."

"The State Administration of Cultural Heritage attaches great importance to the discovery, with quickly-organized professional forces formulating an underwater archeological investigation plan and carrying out the protection and restoration of the extracted underwater cultural relics," the Chinese agency said in a statement.

Yan said that with the enormous success, China could further intensify its work on deep-sea archeology, surveying nearby areas from the two shipwrecks and ancient maritime routes in the South China Sea "to further promote research on historical routes, foreign trade and cultural exchanges."