Reuniting cargoes: Underwater Cultural Heritage of the Maritime Silk Route

  • Polkinghorne, Martin (Primary Chief Investigator (PCI))
  • Van Duivenvoorde, Wendy (Chief Investigator (CI))
  • Pearson, Natali (Chief Investigator (CI))
  • Forrest, Craig (Chief Investigator (CI))
  • Nayati, Widya (Partner Investigator (PI))
  • Tan, Noel (Partner Investigator (PI))
  • Popelka-Filcoff, Rachel (Chief Investigator (CI))
  • Yukongdi, Pakpadee (Partner Investigator (PI))
  • Sato, Yuni (Partner Investigator (PI))
  • Chandler, Thomas (Chief Investigator (CI))
  • Staniforth, Mark (Chief Investigator (CI))

Project: Research

Project Details

Project Description

It has not been possible to adequately consider the significance of global trade during the Early Modern Period across
the Maritime Silk Route because: 1. Its Underwater Cultural Heritage (UCH) has been dispersed throughout the world
without archaeological protocols and excluded from scientific analyses; and 2. When heritage authorities have been
able to accrue provenienced assemblages, decades of permissive legislation has prejudiced access to arguably the
most culturally significant objects. This project will resolve this issue by reuniting the largest collection of
provenienced UCH in the world with another private collection of purportedly high monetary and aesthetic
value purchased on the antiquities market.
Short titleLP210200165
StatusActive
Effective start/end date7/12/22 → 6/12/26

Keywords

  • Cultural Heritage
  • Archaeology
  • Understanding Asia's Past
  • Maritime Silk Route