Deep-sea time capsule reveals China's trade with Europe

OSLO — About 600 meters below the surface of the Skagerrak Strait off southern Norway, large quantities of Chinese porcelain have rested for more than two centuries inside an 18th-century merchant vessel.

Now, Norwegian maritime archaeologists are bringing parts of the ship's cargo back into public view, opening a rare window onto the movement of Chinese porcelain into Europe and its place in 18th-century consumer life and trade networks.

Known to researchers as the Porcelain Shipwreck, the wreck contains Chinese porcelain, glass goblets and bottles, chandelier fragments, grain, textiles and other organic materials. Some recovered objects have been put on display at the Norwegian Maritime Museum in Oslo.

For researchers, the finding is not only a spectacular deep-sea archaeological discovery, but also a time capsule that may help explain how goods from China, northern Europe and possibly the Baltic region converged in one maritime trade system.

The wreck was discovered by Espen Saastad, a watch designer from Porsgrunn in southeastern Norway who also operates a small remotely operated vehicle, or ROV, and seabed survey company.

Saastad recalls the first time he and the museum team approached the wreck with an ROV. "We saw a lot of white items," he says. "When we were getting really close to the wreck, we saw all these plates, all these cups, the jar, and all these crystal things from the chandeliers."

Saastad says they quickly suspected that the objects must be Chinese porcelain. "It was a really fantastic experience in the boat, and everybody was very excited."

Frode Kvalo, a maritime archaeologist at the Norwegian Maritime Museum and project leader of the Porcelain Shipwreck, says the work is being carried out in stages. The first task is to understand what kinds of materials, trade goods and ship's equipment remain at the site, and how they are distributed, before a full excavation can be planned.

According to the museum, the wreck is believed to be a fully laden 18th-century merchant vessel. Based on observations so far, the vessel appears to have had a round stern and may have been a galliot, a type of merchant ship characteristic of northern Europe. The wreck measures about 22 meters in length and includes the remains of two masts.

So far, researchers have identified large quantities of Chinese porcelain, chandelier parts, glass goblets, bottles, and barrels of grain. Crates found at the site may contain textiles and organic materials, possibly including tea, herbs or medicines.

A brick recovered from the ship's galley bears the stamp of Luebecker Ratsziegelei, a brick factory in the German city of Luebeck that operated from the 15th century until 1772.

Kvalo says the importance of the wreck lies in its good state of preservation, the high quality of the objects and the unusual cargo composition, which brings together Chinese porcelain, northern European glassware, chandeliers, grain, textiles and other organic materials.

The depth also makes the project significant. Kvalo says Norwegian archaeologists had not previously worked on a shipwreck in the open sea at a depth of 600 meters, and archaeological work at such depth had not been carried out in northern Europe before.

Many questions remain unanswered. Researchers do not yet know where the ship came from, where it was heading, why it sank, or what happened to the crew. Because the vessel appears to have carried valuable cargo, Kvalo says there may be historical records related to its loss, including customs lists, insurance records and other archives.