Arab Dhow Unearthed in Thailand

SAMUT SAKHON, THAILAND—An Arab dhow dating to the eighth or ninth centuries has been discovered in the mud beneath a shrimp farm that may have once been a canal or a shoreline in a mangrove forest. The parts of the wooden ship had been stitched together with rope. It had been carrying earthenware and stoneware from China and Europe, coconuts, toddy palms, betel nuts, rice, a horn, fish, animals, and seeds when it sank. “Some of the earthenware is extraordinary and had never been found anywhere in Thailand. They are oval-shaped containers with a pointed bottom. Comparison studies found they are similar to amphoras usually found in Europe, the Middle East, and India,” Preeyanuch Chumphrom, an archaeologist for the Regional Office of the Fine Arts Department in Ratchaburi, told The Bangkok Post. The team is researching the best way to preserve the vessel.