UNITED STATE Funds Preservation of Ancient Shipwreck Near Hambantota
The U.S federal government has actually used Sri Lanka a give to maintain the accident of a ship that can offer ideas right into the Indo-Pacific area’s very early East-West profession paths.
The give will certainly allow Sri Lanka’s Central Cultural Fund’s Maritime Archeology Unit to record and also save the Godawaya (or Godavaya) shipwreck, thought to be South Asia’s earliest accident, together with its artefacts. The accident is thought to have actually been resting on the seafloor for over 2,000 years.
united state ambassador to Sri Lanka Julie Chung stated the give from the united state Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation will certainly aid maintain an integral part of the nation’s social heritage.
The Godawaya accident, initially found by 2 Sri Lankan conch scuba divers in 2003, is the earliest recognized shipwreck in the Asia-Pacific area and also among the earliest sunken vessels to be found worldwide. Located near the Chinese- developed port of Hambantota, it consists of a pile of rusty steel bars and also a spreading of various other old freight, consisting of glass ingots and also ceramic.
The shipwreck exists 33 meters listed below the sea’s surface area, simply off the angling town ofGodavaya In the 1990s, German excavators located a harbor close by that was when a crucial port along the maritime silk roadway, in the 2nd century A.D. The harbor was a significant trading path for delivery items from Asia to Rome.
“By documenting the important role that Sri Lanka has played as a hub for the Indo-Pacific region’s travelers and traders from its earliest days, the United States hopes to help preserve and promote Sri Lanka’s magnificent cultural heritage,” stated Chung.
Preservation and also documents of the website will certainly be directed by the Sri Lankan Maritime Archeology Unit’s Galle and also Colombo laboratories. Once the task has actually been finished, artefacts will certainly additionally get on screen to the general public in the Maritime Archeological Museum in Galle.
Since 2001, the UNITED STATE Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation has actually moneyed 15 tasks in Sri Lanka, amounting to support of $1.3 million.
