1. Divers holding artifacts salvaged from the A ray and a school of fish swimming over a seabed
Belitung wreck of ceramic bowls from the Cirebon wreck.

2. The cargo of a ship
can tell us much about
trade between China
and Southeast Asia
and intraregional trade
within the Southeast
(Top) Changsha bowls stacked within a large stoneware jar which
had been cut in half; these ceramic pieces are from the Batu Hitam Asian region.
wreck, off Belitung island. (Right) Yue wares from Cirebon wreck.

3. The ship sank off
the coast of the
island of Belitung; it
is believed that the
ship dates to circa
835 CE based on
numismatic and
ceramic evidence,
and carbon dates.
Note that the date
835 CE is only an
estimate.

4. Changsha bowls are a well-known
ceramic type produced during the Tang
dynasty.

8. The ship is dated
approximately to
the second half of
the 10th century. It
sank off the coast
of northern Java,
near Cirebon. The
main cargo consists
of ceramics and
ingots, but there
are also other
metallic objects,
pearl, shells, glass,
coins, etc. The
wreck also retains
some of the
personal belongings
of the crew who
sailed it.

11. This ship was
sailing from
Sumatra to Java
when it sank near
Bangka island. The
ship was carrying a
diverse cargo, but
one which contains
large quantities of
metal objects.

13. This ship dating to
the late Song period
sank off the coast
of Pulau Buaya in
the Riau-Lingga
archipelago. The
wreck has not been
well-studied, and
the 12th-century
date is largely
predicated on
ceramic finds.

15. The ship sank near
Bangka island and
dates
approximately to
the 13th century.