World-first research to return salvaged objects to their origins on the Maritime Silk Route

via Flinders University, 16 May 2022: A new research project from Flinders University will attempt to find the origins of shipwreck collections in a bid to bring them back to their original home. I have a small role in this research project, and there is a webinar tomorrow (May 20th) discussing this project as part of the Australian National Archaeology Week.

In world-first research, Flinders University archaeologists will lead an international consortium to discover the origin of ancient ceramics from the Maritime Silk Route.

Beginning in the mid 1400s, the Maritime Silk Route witnessed the largest known expansion of global trade, but the true legacy of objects retrieved from this time has not been fully understood because most were salvaged and dispersed without the archaeological recordings of their find-spots.

Thanks to funding from the Australian Research Council and contributions from its partners, archaeologists and heritage specialists from Australia, Indonesia, and across Southeast Asia will reveal the stories behind the largest known collections of trade ceramic in the world.

Source: World-first research to return salvaged objec | EurekAlert!

See also:

• Stories behind ceramics from shipwrecks in Indonesian waters | ABC News, 16 May 2022