A bird's-eye view of the Shuomen ancient port in Wenzhou, East China's Zhejiang province. [Photo by Yang Bingjie/WeChat account: wenzhoufabu]
The Shuomeng ancient port in Wenzhou, East China's Zhejiang province made it to the next round after passing the preliminary assessment of the top 10 national archaeological discoveries of 2022 on Feb 27, local media outlets reported.
The port, which nowadays is located to the east of Wangjiang Road in Lucheng district, was situated outside the north gate of Wenzhou in ancient times. The site was discovered during the construction of a metro line in October 2021.
Important relics such as the ancient water and land city gates, eight docks, two sunken ships, a wooden plank road, and several sets of stilt-style architecture were unearthed, along with various porcelain fragments weighing several dozen tons. The relics are mainly from around the Song and Yuan dynasties (960-1368).
Experts believe that the Shuomeng ancient port has important cultural and historical value.
For example, the discovered docks, sunken ships, and vast accumulation of porcelain pieces suggest the port was home to a bustling scene in the Song and Yuan dynasties. It also confirmed the status of Wenzhou Port as a node of the Maritime Silk Road and a hub port in porcelain trade.
