Archeologists discover ancient Chinese artifacts under water

A group of archeologists from Yogyakarta have discovered ancient Chinese ceramic artifacts estimated to date from between the 13th and 16th century AD in the waters around Genting Island, off the coast of the Central Java town of Jepara.

Head of the team, Priyatno Hadi Sulistyarto, said Friday the findings indicated that the Java Sea was a busy international trade route.

“From the features of the artifacts, which depict animal and flower motifs, albeit not so detailed, we assume the commodities were manufactured as mass products. They have characteristics commonly found in the Ming Dynasty,” Priyatno said.

The 16 member team includes three underwater archeologists. A dive master from the Association of Indonesian Diving Sports was hired to lead the underwater search...[Link]

Diving into Atlantis

Apparently, we know more about the moon’s surface than what lies beneath the Earth’s waters. Yet one thing we know for sure: hidden peacefully under the 576sqm Qingdao Lake is the dormant city of Shi Cheng.

This 1,800-year-old town was uncovered last August by Big Blue’s scuba diving company. The city was accidentally flooded 50 years ago when a reservoir was being built. The whole city was evacuated but the historical architecture remains almost intact deep below the lake’s surface.

Big Blue divers are the only people who know the secret location of this underwater city, which contains eerie derelict buildings, some fully erect and many still intact. “Other dive centers don’t just want to take people to dive there; they want to collect artifacts under the water; but not us,” says our instructor, Paul Adams. Eager for a new adventure, we learned how to scuba dive in order to explore this sunken city...[Urbanatomy.com]