Shipwrecks reveal clues about Silk Road routes

Two 500-year-old shipwrecks in the South China Sea, filled with Mingera porcelain and timber, provide significant clues about the maritime Silk Road trade routes, Chinese archaeologists have said.

Marine researchers found the two vessels in the north-west region of the South China Sea, about 1,500 metres below sea level, in October. Experts said one of the wrecks dated back to the Ming dynasty’s Hongzhi period, which lasted from 1488 until 1505. The other wreck dates back to the Zhengde period of 1506 to 1521.