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The Quanzhou Ship (泉州湾古船),〔 or Quanzhou wreck, was a 13th-century Chinese seagoing sailing junk〔 – rounds the length and beam width to 34 and 9.8 m, respectively (also abstract on pp. 62–63, 240-242)〕 that sank near the city of Quanzhou in Fujian Province, and was discovered in 1973.〔 It remains one of the most important marine archaeology finds in China, and is an important piece of physical evidence about the shipbuilding techniques of the Song China and the international maritime trade of the period. ==Discovery== The Quanzhou ship was discovered in 1973〔 and excavated by Chinese archaeologists during the summer of 1974 from of mud in the shore area of Quanzhou Bay. The excavation was led by the local archaeologist, professor of history at Xiamen University Zhuang Weij (庄为玑, 1909–1991).〔 – The article includes a photo of the excavation.〕 It is thought that in the 13th century a shipping channel ran in that area.〔 During the heyday of Quanzhou as one of China's major sea ports, the area corresponded to the ancient Houzhou Harbor (后渚港, Houzhougang;〔 Hou-to in Wake (1997).〔〔Houzhu Harbor on Google Maps: 〕 The parts of the ship located above the original waterline had perished,〔 but the lower parts of the hull had been preserved fairly well in mud and water. The main evidence for dating the vessel comes from 504 copper coins found inside the hull. Seventy of them date to the Song dynasty, with the "youngest" of them dating to 1272. Based on this, the archaeologists concluded that the ship must have sunk within a few years after 1272〔 - that is, during the very last years of the Southern Song dynasty (which fell to the Mongols in 1279), or perhaps already after the Mongol conquest of South China. Some archaeologists (John W. Chafee, Janice Stargardt) conjecture that the peculiar circumstances of the ship's sinking may indicate that the vessel was scuttled by its own crew upon returning to Quanzhou from Southeast Asia, once they found out that the city had been captured by the Mongols. The captain may have intentionally chosen a place in shallow, sheltered waters to scuttle his ship. There was apparently no loss of life (no human remains found at the site), but all cargo appeared to stay on board. This may indicate that the crew intended to return to the site later to retrieve the valuable cargo, but failed to do it due to events beyond their control. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Quanzhou ship」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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