"Likely Sank Together Heading to Gaegyeong"... 800-Year-Old "Secret" Unlocked

[Anchor]

The waters off Mado in Taean, South Chungcheong Province, were once a maritime route used to transport goods from the southern regions to the capital during the Goryeo and Joseon dynasties. However, treacherous currents made it a site prone to frequent shipwrecks. Recently, underwater excavations in this area have successively uncovered important clues shedding light on Goryeo's maritime transportation network from 800 years ago.

Here is a report by Ryu Ran.

[Reporter]

Elongated pieces of wood emerge from beneath the sandy seabed.

They are wooden slips, or mokgan, containing records of cargo details from the Goryeo Dynasty.

Inscribed on them are place names pointing to present-day Sacheon and Jinju regions in South Gyeongsang Province.

With Goryeo-era relics such as celadon ceramics, earthenware, and straw sacks of grain continuously discovered nearby, researchers estimate that a sixth shipwreck, named "Mado No. 6," lies buried in the area.

While the hull has not yet been identified, this marks the first time traces of a Goryeo vessel departing from Gyeongsang Province have been discovered.

[Shin Jong-guk / Head of Underwater Excavation Division, National Research Institute of Maritime Cultural Heritage: This is an area where a warehouse called 'Tongyangchang' used to store tax grains was located, and it is the first time a vessel from the Gyeongsang Province region has been identified.]

For Mado No. 5, where celadon and hull fragments were found last year, clues to estimate its navigation period and route were secured as wooden slips were excavated this year.

It is estimated to have headed toward Gaegyeong, the capital of Goryeo, carrying cargo from the Yeongam area in South Jeolla Province in the spring of 1208.

Of note is that Mado No. 1, discovered earlier in 2009, was also a ship traveling from the southwestern part of Jeolla Province to Gaegyeong around the same period.

Some of the wooden slips recovered from the two ships are believed to have been written by the same person, and the wreckage sites are only 250 meters apart.

Researchers believe that the two ships encountered severe weather and sank while heading toward Gaegyeong together.

[Moon Kyung-ho / Professor of History Education, Kongju National University: Not just one, but at least two ships departed together. We can now accurately understand how taxes were loaded into forms of cargo and transported to specific recipients.]

With the traces of ships departing from Jeolla Province followed by those from Gyeongsang Province, the Mado waters are drawing attention as a key underwater heritage site for restoring the maritime logistics network of the Goryeo Dynasty.

(Photo courtesy of National Research Institute of Maritime Cultural Heritage)

Reported by Ryu Ran | Video by Yang Ji-hoon | Video Editing by Park Na-young | Graphics by Seo Seung-hyun and Kim Ye-ji
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.