专题08 南海古沉船揭开中国深海考古新篇章-高中英语时文阅读外刊精选精练

专题08 南海古沉船揭开中国深海考古新篇章 【原文·外刊阅读】 Two ancient shipwrecks in South China Sea mark new chapter in high-tech deep-sea archaeology （文章来源：Global Times） Thousands of meters under the South China Sea, two ancient shipwrecks carrying numerous ­cultural relics had "slept" for hundreds of years before they were discovered by Chinese archaeologists in 2022. The find stunned the whole world. The two shipwrecks were discovered at a depth of about 1,500 meters using the submersible Shenhai Yongshi, or Deep Sea Warrior, in October 2022. The relics are in piles in various compartments; the highest pile is more than three meters high. The No.1 wreck mainly contains porcelain wares, roughly more than 100,000 pieces dating back to the reign of the Zhengde Emperor (1506-1521) of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). The No.2 shipwreck mainly contains a large number of wood logs, most of which have been processed. Through a preliminary study, it was determined that the ship was loaded with cargo and had sailed from overseas to China. It dates back to the reign of the Hongzhi Emperor (1488-1505) of the Ming Dynasty, according to China's National Cultural Heritage Administration (NCHA). "The wrecks are both relatively well-preserved and a large number of relics have been uncovered," Yan ­Yalin, director of the archaeology department of NCHA, said at a press conference held Sunday in Sanya, South China's Hainan Province. "The well-preserved relics are of high historical, scientific and artistic value. It may constitute a world-class deep-sea archaeological discovery," he added. Song Jianzhong, head of the archaeological project and a researcher at the National Centre for Archaeology, told the Global Times on Monday that in the middle of the Ming Dynasty, China often imported timber from Southeast Asia. He explained that the timber was usually used to build buildings, like the palace of the emperor. However, further research is needed to uncover more details. On Saturday, officials from NCHA emb