Nearly 1,000 artifacts including coins and ornate pottery from the Ming Dynasty have been salvaged from two discovered shipwrecks.

Nearly 1,000 cultural relics have been recovered from the shipwrecks dating back to the Ming Dynasty – from 1368 to 1644 – including porcelain and ceramics, coins and deer antlers, China’s National Cultural Heritage Administration (NCHA) said in a statement on June 13.

Underwater excavations of the shipwrecks began last year and showed that people from the Ming Dynasty used the South China Sea, known as the ancient Maritime Silk Road, as an important trade route, said Guan Qiang, deputy director of the NCHA.

The wreck was first discovered in 2022, at a depth of about 1,524m near the northwest continental slope of the South China Sea.

More than 800 artifacts ranging from coins to pottery have been found.

A total of 890 artifacts such as coins, pottery and porcelain were found in the first shipwreck, and 38 artifacts, including pottery, porcelain, turban shells and wood, were excavated from the second shipwreck.

Officials said archaeologists used a manned submersible called the “Deep Sea Warrior” to conduct the excavation.

The first ship appears to have mainly exported porcelain while the second imported timber. According to FOX Weather, the ships were found 10 nautical miles apart.

“The well-preserved relics have high historical, scientific and artistic value. This could be a world-class deep-sea archaeological discovery,” Yan Yalin, director of archaeology at China’s State Administration of Cultural Heritage, said after the ships were first discovered.