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German treasure hunters strike gold with English shipwreck
The wreck of a 19th century English ship loaded with gold and silver worth millions of pounds has been found by German adventurers in seas off Indonesia.
By David Wroe in Berlin
Telegraph, 30 Jul 2009
More than 1.5 tonnes of silver coins, gold jewellery, crystal, Chinese porcelain, cannon, muskets and 400 bottles of wine were recovered by the treasure hunters from the Forbes, a ship that ran aground between Borneo and Sumatra in 1806.
The team believes the value of the find to be at least 7 million euros (£6m).
Martin Wenzel, one of the hunters, told The Daily Telegraph that the discovery had come like "a shot of adrenalin in the blood".
"I found the first things during a survey and everything just looked encrusted but when I saw there was treasure like this I just couldn't believe my eyes," he said.
The Forbes was a prolific trading and buccaneering ship that had King George III's approval to attack and plunder foreign vessels.
It had raided at least one Chinese ship, as there was Ming dynasty porcelain on board, Mr Wenzel said.
The Forbes had carried opium and iron from Calcutta to the far east and was, according to the Asiatic Annual Register, on its way home with a "considerable amount" of loot and cargo.
But shortly after it raided a Dutch brig, both ships were driven onto a rock reef at five knots, the register writes.
The crew survived and piled into three lifeboats. Then, after "undergoing the greatest distresses from want of water and provisions under a scorching sun without an awning or anything to cover them" they were picked up by another English ship.
The Forbes' captain, a Scotsman named Frazer Sinclair, went on to skipper other English ships and was decorated by George III for his bold raids on foreign vessels.
National Archives records suggest Captain Sinclair died in 1816 and describe him as "Mariner of Calcutta".
Half the value of the treasure must be given to the Indonesian government under the salvage licence agreement but the German team plan to sell its share at auction, and use the money to finance future operations, Mr Wenzel said.
The adventurers are already eyeing another wreck that they believe may hold two tonnes of gold.
"This is an exciting hobby but an expensive one," Mr Wenzel said. "This is the biggest thing we've found." The Forbes salvage operation cost about 400,000 euros.
The wreck of the Forbes lay off Belitung Island, between Malaysian Borneo and Indonesian Sumatra, near the Strait of Malacca. The strait remains an important shipping route and has historically been a lucrative passage for pirates.
Mr Wenzel and his partner Klaus Keppler have spent up to 3 million euros searching Indonesian waters for wrecks. They have also found a 10th century wreck with ancient Chinese coins.
He said they scoured archives and libraries for documentary clues and also spoke to local fisherman to help pinpoint wrecks worth exploring.
===================
Smithsonian Shipwreck Exhibit Draws Fire From Archaeologists - ScienceInsider
Smithsonian Shipwreck Exhibit Draws Fire From Archaeologists
Archaeologists are criticizing the ethics of a planned Smithsonian Institution exhibit, Shipwrecked: Tang Treasures and Monsoon Winds, slated to open in the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery in 2012. The exhibit is based on artifacts hauled up from an Arab dhow that sank to the bottom of the Java Sea in the 9th century C.E. The wreck was salvaged by a private German company, Seabed Explorations GbR, in the late 1990s, and critics say that its divers did not observe professional archaeological standards while recovering the artifacts, which include glazed ceramics, lead ingots, and intricately worked vessels of silver and gold from the Tang dynasty. Then in 2005, most of the finds were sold to a second company in Singapore for a reported $32 million. Such commercialization of ancient objects doesn't break the laws of Indonesia, in whose territorial waters the dhow was found, but many archaeologists say that it contravenes their field's standard ethical guidelines.
In recent weeks, three major American archaeological associations and three of the Smithsonian's own internal research organizations have written to Smithsonian Institution Secretary Wayne Clough strongly opposing the exhibition. "We agree that there was unprofessional and unethical conduct associated with the recovery of this wreck, regardless of the 'letter of the law,' and that at the least, the perception of impropriety and the potential for the Smithsonian's engagement with this project could set a negative precedent and reflect ill on this institution," wrote Melissa Songer, chair of the Smithsonian Congress of Scholars, in her letter.
Underwater archaeologists have been fighting for decades to protect shipwreck sites from treasure-hunting operations that mine sunken ships for artifacts to sell. In 2009, the archaeological community scored a major victory when the UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage came into effect. It stated that "underwater cultural heritage shall not be traded, sold, bought or bartered as commercial goods."
But Indonesia has not ratified the UNESCO convention. Instead, it licenses private companies, such as Seabed Explorations, to salvage its shipwrecks in return for a 50% share of the profits from selling artifacts. To increase profits, such companies are often tempted to cut corners on important but time-consuming tasks, such as the recording of the archaeological context. In the case of the dhow, notes Ted Schultz, chair of the National Museum of Natural History Senate of Scientists, "We believe that substantial scientific information was lost due to the methods employed."
To discuss these and other concerns about the proposed exhibit, senior Smithsonian officials are planning to convene a blue-ribbon panel of archaeologists and other experts in Washington, D.C., in April. But the meeting has been postponed twice, and some of the invited researchers, such as Margaret Conkey, president of the Society for American Archaeology, wonder if the discussion will be too little, too late. The Smithsonian has already co-organized a world tour of the dhow's artifacts, which opened in a Singapore museum in February, and "it appears that the [exhibit] catalog is already out," Conkey says.
Julian Raby, director of the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, remains a firm supporter of the exhibit. Seabed Explorations broke no laws during the salvage operation, he says, and had an archaeologist on hand to record details of the ship during the second season. "There are bound to be divergent opinions," Raby says, "and I feel that the Smithsonian should not flinch from controversial exhibitions. It should use controversy to open debate."
But many prominent archaeologists see little to debate. Concludes Bruce Smith, curator of North American history at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History: "I think this exhibition would send a very bad message to the public, that the Smithsonian doesn't stand for the preservation of archaeological resources and that mining archaeological sites is OK."
Photo :Buried at sea. A commercial company salvaged Tang dynasty bowls and thousands of other precious artifacts from a 9th century C.E. shipwreck.
Credit: Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
===========
Last developments about Smithsonian and salvage of the Belitung Shipwreck
http://www.archaeolo...s/advocacy/5260
Statement on Belitung
June 8, 2011 | by Elizabeth Bartman
As the largest and oldest organization devoted to archaeology in North America, the Archaeological Institute of America is committed to the protection of the worlds cultural heritage. As part of this commitment we strongly oppose the commercial salvage of antiquities and any exploitation of archaeological materials obtained in this manner.
The Belitung Shipwreck was salvaged unscientifically by commercially-motivated treasure hunters. Although the excavation and disposition of these materials may be technically legal, it is the AIAs position that involvement by the Smithsonian Institution in the exhibition of these artifacts will serve to blur the distinction between bona fide nautical archaeology and treasure hunting. Following this path puts the Smithsonian in the indefensible position of aiding those who believe that antiquities are a commodity to be mined for personal or corporate financial gain. They are notthey are part of the worlds cultural patrimony.
As the premier museum of the United States and the largest museum and research institution in the world, the Smithsonian is a model for others and should endorse the highest ethical standards for American archaeological and museological practice. The AIA urges the Smithsonians leadership to heed the voices of archaeologists worldwideincluding many within its own wallsin cancelling the plans for any exhibition of the Belitung shipwreck and its artifacts. To proceed with plans to display these objects will increase the risk to other equally valuable shipwrecks that have yet to be discovered.
===================
May 6, 2011
http://illicit-cultu...eology-and.html
"To sell ceramics from a wreck like that makes them a hell of a lot more than selling sea cucumbers,"
So argues marine archaeologist Michael Flecker discussing the looting of perhaps the most significant shipwreck found in modern times. The wreck was discovered in 1998 by local fishermen while diving for sea cucumbers and was packed with some 60,000 glazed bowls, ewers and other ceramics. They were found in the wreck of an Arab dhow on its way from China to the Persian Gulf some 1,100 years ago. The Indonesian government did little to prevent the fishermen for taking objects from the cite and moved to hire Seabed Exploratiosn, a commercial salvage company to excavate the site, with the assistance of Flecker, who has published the excavation.
Archaeologists now are criticizing the exhibition of this material at the Smithsonian, claiming the commercial salvage amounts to looting. Kimberly Faulk of the Advisory Council on Underwater Archaeology says: "They were not excavated properly. They are indeed looted artifacts that were sold for profit," which "sends a message that treasure hunting is OK." That seems a very impractical stance to take. No one would argue that a concerted and extensive archaeological excavation would have been the best resolution here, or even if the Indonesian government had been able or willing to police the site of the wreck. yet short of those options, a removal of the objects with archaeologists yields some information right? What should be done with the objects now according to the archaeologists? What kinds of information might a longer extended excavation have recovered? I'd be interested in comparing the scientific results of this excavation with other more rigorous studies?
I mean, what should happen, should the 60,000 objects be returned to the ocean floor? Is there really no value in these objects without the context? If the advocates are using this for a chance to raise the profile of the problem of conservation and excavation of underwater archaeological sites, that seems a worthwhile endeavor, but doing so at the expense of common sense solutions seems to diminish their cause.
Elizabeth Blair, From Beneath, A Smithsonian Shipwreck Controversy : NPR, http://www.npr.org/2...eck-controversy (last visited May 6, 2011).
Flecker, Michael. "A 9th-Century Arab or Indian Shipwreck in Indonesian Waters." International Journal of Nautical Archaeology. Volume 29(2), 2000.
Flecker, Michael. "A 9th-Century Arab or Indian Shipwreck in Indonesian Waters: Addendum." International Journal of Nautical Archaeology, Volume 37(2), 2008.
The wreck of a 19th century English ship loaded with gold and silver worth millions of pounds has been found by German adventurers in seas off Indonesia.
By David Wroe in Berlin
Telegraph, 30 Jul 2009
More than 1.5 tonnes of silver coins, gold jewellery, crystal, Chinese porcelain, cannon, muskets and 400 bottles of wine were recovered by the treasure hunters from the Forbes, a ship that ran aground between Borneo and Sumatra in 1806.
The team believes the value of the find to be at least 7 million euros (£6m).
Martin Wenzel, one of the hunters, told The Daily Telegraph that the discovery had come like "a shot of adrenalin in the blood".
"I found the first things during a survey and everything just looked encrusted but when I saw there was treasure like this I just couldn't believe my eyes," he said.
The Forbes was a prolific trading and buccaneering ship that had King George III's approval to attack and plunder foreign vessels.
It had raided at least one Chinese ship, as there was Ming dynasty porcelain on board, Mr Wenzel said.
The Forbes had carried opium and iron from Calcutta to the far east and was, according to the Asiatic Annual Register, on its way home with a "considerable amount" of loot and cargo.
But shortly after it raided a Dutch brig, both ships were driven onto a rock reef at five knots, the register writes.
The crew survived and piled into three lifeboats. Then, after "undergoing the greatest distresses from want of water and provisions under a scorching sun without an awning or anything to cover them" they were picked up by another English ship.
The Forbes' captain, a Scotsman named Frazer Sinclair, went on to skipper other English ships and was decorated by George III for his bold raids on foreign vessels.
National Archives records suggest Captain Sinclair died in 1816 and describe him as "Mariner of Calcutta".
Half the value of the treasure must be given to the Indonesian government under the salvage licence agreement but the German team plan to sell its share at auction, and use the money to finance future operations, Mr Wenzel said.
The adventurers are already eyeing another wreck that they believe may hold two tonnes of gold.
"This is an exciting hobby but an expensive one," Mr Wenzel said. "This is the biggest thing we've found." The Forbes salvage operation cost about 400,000 euros.
The wreck of the Forbes lay off Belitung Island, between Malaysian Borneo and Indonesian Sumatra, near the Strait of Malacca. The strait remains an important shipping route and has historically been a lucrative passage for pirates.
Mr Wenzel and his partner Klaus Keppler have spent up to 3 million euros searching Indonesian waters for wrecks. They have also found a 10th century wreck with ancient Chinese coins.
He said they scoured archives and libraries for documentary clues and also spoke to local fisherman to help pinpoint wrecks worth exploring.
===================
Smithsonian Shipwreck Exhibit Draws Fire From Archaeologists - ScienceInsider
Smithsonian Shipwreck Exhibit Draws Fire From Archaeologists
Archaeologists are criticizing the ethics of a planned Smithsonian Institution exhibit, Shipwrecked: Tang Treasures and Monsoon Winds, slated to open in the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery in 2012. The exhibit is based on artifacts hauled up from an Arab dhow that sank to the bottom of the Java Sea in the 9th century C.E. The wreck was salvaged by a private German company, Seabed Explorations GbR, in the late 1990s, and critics say that its divers did not observe professional archaeological standards while recovering the artifacts, which include glazed ceramics, lead ingots, and intricately worked vessels of silver and gold from the Tang dynasty. Then in 2005, most of the finds were sold to a second company in Singapore for a reported $32 million. Such commercialization of ancient objects doesn't break the laws of Indonesia, in whose territorial waters the dhow was found, but many archaeologists say that it contravenes their field's standard ethical guidelines.
In recent weeks, three major American archaeological associations and three of the Smithsonian's own internal research organizations have written to Smithsonian Institution Secretary Wayne Clough strongly opposing the exhibition. "We agree that there was unprofessional and unethical conduct associated with the recovery of this wreck, regardless of the 'letter of the law,' and that at the least, the perception of impropriety and the potential for the Smithsonian's engagement with this project could set a negative precedent and reflect ill on this institution," wrote Melissa Songer, chair of the Smithsonian Congress of Scholars, in her letter.
Underwater archaeologists have been fighting for decades to protect shipwreck sites from treasure-hunting operations that mine sunken ships for artifacts to sell. In 2009, the archaeological community scored a major victory when the UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage came into effect. It stated that "underwater cultural heritage shall not be traded, sold, bought or bartered as commercial goods."
But Indonesia has not ratified the UNESCO convention. Instead, it licenses private companies, such as Seabed Explorations, to salvage its shipwrecks in return for a 50% share of the profits from selling artifacts. To increase profits, such companies are often tempted to cut corners on important but time-consuming tasks, such as the recording of the archaeological context. In the case of the dhow, notes Ted Schultz, chair of the National Museum of Natural History Senate of Scientists, "We believe that substantial scientific information was lost due to the methods employed."
To discuss these and other concerns about the proposed exhibit, senior Smithsonian officials are planning to convene a blue-ribbon panel of archaeologists and other experts in Washington, D.C., in April. But the meeting has been postponed twice, and some of the invited researchers, such as Margaret Conkey, president of the Society for American Archaeology, wonder if the discussion will be too little, too late. The Smithsonian has already co-organized a world tour of the dhow's artifacts, which opened in a Singapore museum in February, and "it appears that the [exhibit] catalog is already out," Conkey says.
Julian Raby, director of the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, remains a firm supporter of the exhibit. Seabed Explorations broke no laws during the salvage operation, he says, and had an archaeologist on hand to record details of the ship during the second season. "There are bound to be divergent opinions," Raby says, "and I feel that the Smithsonian should not flinch from controversial exhibitions. It should use controversy to open debate."
But many prominent archaeologists see little to debate. Concludes Bruce Smith, curator of North American history at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History: "I think this exhibition would send a very bad message to the public, that the Smithsonian doesn't stand for the preservation of archaeological resources and that mining archaeological sites is OK."
Photo :Buried at sea. A commercial company salvaged Tang dynasty bowls and thousands of other precious artifacts from a 9th century C.E. shipwreck.
Credit: Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
===========
Last developments about Smithsonian and salvage of the Belitung Shipwreck
http://www.archaeolo...s/advocacy/5260
Statement on Belitung
June 8, 2011 | by Elizabeth Bartman
As the largest and oldest organization devoted to archaeology in North America, the Archaeological Institute of America is committed to the protection of the worlds cultural heritage. As part of this commitment we strongly oppose the commercial salvage of antiquities and any exploitation of archaeological materials obtained in this manner.
The Belitung Shipwreck was salvaged unscientifically by commercially-motivated treasure hunters. Although the excavation and disposition of these materials may be technically legal, it is the AIAs position that involvement by the Smithsonian Institution in the exhibition of these artifacts will serve to blur the distinction between bona fide nautical archaeology and treasure hunting. Following this path puts the Smithsonian in the indefensible position of aiding those who believe that antiquities are a commodity to be mined for personal or corporate financial gain. They are notthey are part of the worlds cultural patrimony.
As the premier museum of the United States and the largest museum and research institution in the world, the Smithsonian is a model for others and should endorse the highest ethical standards for American archaeological and museological practice. The AIA urges the Smithsonians leadership to heed the voices of archaeologists worldwideincluding many within its own wallsin cancelling the plans for any exhibition of the Belitung shipwreck and its artifacts. To proceed with plans to display these objects will increase the risk to other equally valuable shipwrecks that have yet to be discovered.
===================
May 6, 2011
http://illicit-cultu...eology-and.html
"To sell ceramics from a wreck like that makes them a hell of a lot more than selling sea cucumbers,"
So argues marine archaeologist Michael Flecker discussing the looting of perhaps the most significant shipwreck found in modern times. The wreck was discovered in 1998 by local fishermen while diving for sea cucumbers and was packed with some 60,000 glazed bowls, ewers and other ceramics. They were found in the wreck of an Arab dhow on its way from China to the Persian Gulf some 1,100 years ago. The Indonesian government did little to prevent the fishermen for taking objects from the cite and moved to hire Seabed Exploratiosn, a commercial salvage company to excavate the site, with the assistance of Flecker, who has published the excavation.
Archaeologists now are criticizing the exhibition of this material at the Smithsonian, claiming the commercial salvage amounts to looting. Kimberly Faulk of the Advisory Council on Underwater Archaeology says: "They were not excavated properly. They are indeed looted artifacts that were sold for profit," which "sends a message that treasure hunting is OK." That seems a very impractical stance to take. No one would argue that a concerted and extensive archaeological excavation would have been the best resolution here, or even if the Indonesian government had been able or willing to police the site of the wreck. yet short of those options, a removal of the objects with archaeologists yields some information right? What should be done with the objects now according to the archaeologists? What kinds of information might a longer extended excavation have recovered? I'd be interested in comparing the scientific results of this excavation with other more rigorous studies?
I mean, what should happen, should the 60,000 objects be returned to the ocean floor? Is there really no value in these objects without the context? If the advocates are using this for a chance to raise the profile of the problem of conservation and excavation of underwater archaeological sites, that seems a worthwhile endeavor, but doing so at the expense of common sense solutions seems to diminish their cause.
Elizabeth Blair, From Beneath, A Smithsonian Shipwreck Controversy : NPR, http://www.npr.org/2...eck-controversy (last visited May 6, 2011).
Flecker, Michael. "A 9th-Century Arab or Indian Shipwreck in Indonesian Waters." International Journal of Nautical Archaeology. Volume 29(2), 2000.
Flecker, Michael. "A 9th-Century Arab or Indian Shipwreck in Indonesian Waters: Addendum." International Journal of Nautical Archaeology, Volume 37(2), 2008.
