New Goryeo-Era Shipwreck Found off Taean in Korea’s Yellow Sea
Underwater archaeologists from South Korea’s National Research Institute of Maritime Heritage have found a new shipwreck site, Mado No. 6, near Mado, a small island about 10 minutes by boat from Sinjin Port in Taean, South Chungcheong Province. The area lies on Korea’s west coast in the Yellow Sea, where strong currents made sailing dangerous for centuries.
Working at a depth of about 13 metres, divers recovered a celadon oil bottle, a stoneware kundika (a ritual water vessel), rice-straw sacks and wooden cargo tags. The site is believed to date from the Goryeo period. The tags name senders from Saju and Banseong, which are now Sacheon and Jinju in South Gyeongsang Province. Sacheon was home to one of 13 state granaries that stored tax grain.
Researchers say this would be the first Korean wreck known to have sailed from South Gyeongsang, about 800 years ago. The same waters have already given up several other wrecks. Mado No. 5 has been dated to 1208, and it appears to have sailed in a fleet with Mado No. 1, found about 250 metres away in 2009, from Yeongam in South Jeolla. Goryeo celadons and Joseon-era white porcelain were also found in the area.
The institute plans to search for the main hull of Mado No. 6 next year.
CrewMirror Takeaway
The Taean finds are a reminder that coastal cargo routes, and the risks crews faced on them, have shaped trade in Asia for many centuries.
