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Maritime museum
hopes fade after tsunami reclaims sea treasures
Sun Mar 20,12:09 AM ET
@ AFP/File Photo
GALLE, Sri Lanka (AFP) -
Marine archeologists spent nine years trawling the seabed of Sri Lanka's
Galle port to collect thousands of centuries-old treasures buried underwater
in shipwrecks.
But it took just a few seconds for them to be reclaimed by the ocean when a
tsunami battered the shores of this island nation on December 26 and swept
away everything in its path, including hopes of opening the country's first
maritime museum.
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Marine archeologists spent nine years
trawling the seabed of Sri Lanka's Galle port to collect thousands of
centuries-old treasures buried underwater in shipwrecks but it took
just a few seconds for them to be reclaimed by the deadly tsunami last
year (AFP/File/Sena Vidanagama) |
The collection of priceless
artefacts -- including spoons, jars, jugs, bottles, cannons and leather
belts -- were to be exhibited to showcase the maritime heritage Sri Lanka
shared with European invaders and Arab traders.
But only 20 percent of 3,600 objects salvaged from shipwrecks within the
waters of Galle port from about 1996 appeared to have survived the tsunami,
said S. M. Nandadasa, the officer in charge of the project.
Authorities are now trying to trace the twice-lost treasures.
"We have found some of the artefacts among the debris ... (and) our main
concern right now is to try and conserve what was saved," said Nandadasa.
He said the long-term plan was to get foreign help to go ahead with its goal
of establishing the maritime archaeological museum on the island nation that
had been a key transit point in east-west trade centuries ago.
Galle, 72 miles (112 kilometres) south of Colombo and located along the
ancient silk sea route, is rich grounds for marine archaeological
exploration.
The authorities have identified 26 locations, including 15 shipwrecks,
within the small Galle port and its immediate environs.
Nandadasa said Sri Lanka was also seeking foreign help to re-establish the
devastated Maritime Archaeology Unit (MAU), which had been housed in a
single storied building on a jetty at the old section of the Galle port and
was where the artefacts were being stored.
Sri Lanka's Central Cultural Fund was to take over the running of the MAU
from Dutch and Australian experts at the end of December, but after the
tsunamis it was left literally picking up the pieces.
"My first reaction was everything is lost -- the maritime archaeological
unit is gone," said former director, Robert Parthesius, a Dutch national who
has helped the MAU from its inception.
Parthesius has been helping set up the marine archaeological operations
since 1992.
"We lost 80 percent of our collection (of artefacts)," Parthesius told AFP
here. "Fortunately, not a single life was lost. Buildings were lost, but we
have not lost the Sri Lankan expertise we developed over the years."
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The devastated marine archaeological
unit in the Sri Lankan port town of Galle. Sri Lanka was on the verge
of exhibiting the maritime heritage it shared with European invaders
and Arab traders when the tsunamis washed out artefacts collected over
a decade (AFP/Sena Vidanagama) |
The jewel in the proposed maritime archaeological museum was to be artefacts
found on the wreck of the Avondster, a Dutch ship which slipped anchor and
hit the shore, broke in two and submerged in the soft sand on July 2, 1659,
according to historical records.
Blue and white ceramic ware, spoons, jars, jugs, cannons and cannon balls
and leather belts were hauled by divers from the Avondster together with
some of the areca nut cargo that it was loading 346 years ago.
Marine archaeologist Rasika Muthukumarana carried out his first dive after
the tsunamis to check if the Avondster, had shifted from its position.
"A bit of the galley was sticking out of the sand and some of the bricks had
come off, but there was no major damage," Muthukumarana said, adding that
sand had been dumped on the wreck.
"That is a good thing from our point of view because it helps to preserve
the wreck. We have no intention of pulling it out because we don't have the
money or the expertise right now to preserve it (out of the water)."
One of the most intriguing finds was a skull inside Avondster despite
historic records making no mention of casualties when it ran aground while
loading a cargo of areca nuts for India.
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The former head of Sri Lanka's only
marine archaeological research unit, Robert Parthesius, speaks about
the tsunami damage to the facility in the background at the Sri Lankan
port town of Galle. Sri Lanka was on the verge of exhibiting the
maritime heritage it shared with European invaders and Arab traders
when the tsunamis washed out artefacts collected over a decade (AFP/Sena
Vidanagama) |
"We have established it is a male in his early 30s but we have not been
establish his race," Parthesius said. "We don't know for sure, but it could
have been a stowaway or a slave or even an early diver looking for
treasures."
The skull was also lost after the tsunamis, but miraculously found again
among the rubble of the MAU building and is now safely locked away in a
safe.
The December 26 tsunamis that killed 31,000 people across Sri Lanka and left
a million people homeless, also shifted some of the heavy artefacts that had
been brought ashore.
A huge stone anchor from an Omani ship was shifted and broken but put
together again by workers. It is to be moved to the Galle Fort, which also
suffered flood damage in the sea surge, but was spared the fury of the waves
thanks to the centuries old ramparts.
The Fort is a world heritage site and was built by Portuguese invaders who
arrived on the island in 1505 while trying to intercept Moorish spice
vessels.
The Portuguese-built fort here was later captured by the Dutch who lost it
to the British. The British ruled the island till 1948.
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