What Shipwreck Remains from the Sunken Fleet of Kublai Khan Reveal about Wood Use in Yuan-Dynasty China

The Mongol invasions of Japan in 1274 and 1281 are well documented historical events. Numerous wooden artefacts have been recovered from the waters off Takashima Island, where the Mongol fleet is believed to have been destroyed by storm winds. Historical records and previous studies indicate that fleets were dispatched simultaneously from China and Korea to Hakata via Tsushima, Iki, and Takashima islands, but were ultimately wrecked near Takashima by a typhoon. Scientific investigations of the Takashima underwater site began in 1984, yielding a substantial number of artefacts. In this study, we analysed wooden remains to determine whether the provenance of the Mongol ships could be inferred from wood species identification. A total of 606 specimens were examined, resulting in the identification of 46 taxa. The analysis revealed that ship timbers were predominantly composed of five taxa: Cinnamomum camphora, Pinus subgen. Diploxylon (two-needle pine), Cunninghamia lanceolata (China fir), Ulmus spp. (elm), and Pinus subgen. Haploxylon . Notably, a large proportion of Cunninghamia lanceolata , which is widely distributed in China but absent from Japan and Korea, was identified, providing strong evidence that many of the ships were constructed in China. In addition, several taxa not native to Japan or Korea — Cotylelobium sp., Dalbergia spp., Erythrophleum fordii, Liquidambar sp., Pistacia sp., Pteroceltis tatarinowii, Tectona grandis, Terminalia catappa , and Ziziphus jujuba — were recovered from a limited area around Takashima Island. Although these taxa were found in relatively small quantities, their presence further supports the conclusion that a substantial proportion of ships was built in China

China · Combretaceae · Cunninghamia · Sri lanka · Taxon · Tectona · Thuja · Western Hemlock · Cultural Heritage Materials Analysis · Maritime and Coastal Archaeology · Wood and Agarwood Research