Image title: Godawaya Shipwreck

English text:

Godawaya Shipwreck (2nd century BCE) — Oldest known shipwreck site in the Asia-Pacific region. The wreck was found in 2003 by two local divers and archaeologically identified in 2008 by the Maritime Archaeology Unit. Remains of this wooden wreck are in a depth of 32 meters, located in the offshore regions of Godawaya, a small fishing village on the southern coast of Sri Lanka.

Majority of the artefacts found at the site are pottery and include various types of clayware, from large storage jars to small intake wares. Apart from jars and potsherds, artefacts uncovered from 2008 included stone querns, several cylindrical grinding stones, round and flat beads and fragments of several metal objects such as bowls and a spearhead. A considerable quantity of raw materials was transported aboard the ship. Hemispherical blue-glass ingots, purified copper and fragments of iron can be found from the site.

Sinhala text (not proofread):

ගොඩවාය පැරණි වෙළඳ යත්‍රාව — දකුණු මුහුදු තීරයේ අම්බලන්තොට සහ හම්බන්තොට අතර පිහිටි ගොඩවාය ධීවර ගම්මානයට කි.මී. 06 පමන දුරින් මීටර 32ක් ගැඹුරු මුහුදු පළෙන් හමුවන මෙම පැරණි දැවමය යාත්‍රාව 2008 වසරේදී හඳුනා ගනු ලැබින. ක්‍රිස්තු පූර්ව 2වන සියවසට අයත්වන බව තහවුරු කර ඇති මෙම යත්‍රාව ආසියානු ශාන්තිකර කළපයෙන් හමුවන පැරණිම මුහුදු යත්‍රාව වේ. මෙම යත්‍රාවේ රැගෙන ගිය වෙළඳ භාන්ඩ ලෙස මැටි බඳුන්, ඇඹරුම් ගල්, පිරිසිඳු කරන ලද තඹ, යකඩ, වීදුරුමය ද්‍රව්‍ය සහ වෙනත් පුරා කෘති රාශියක් හඳුනා ගත හැක. වසර දෙදහකට පෙර ඉන්දීය සාගරයේ වෙළඳාම පිළිබදව සහ නාවුක තාක්ෂණය පිළිබඳ තොරතුරු රාශියක් මේ යාත්‍රාවේ පර්යේෂණ මගින් හෙළිදරව්වේ.

Transcription:

goḍavāya pæraṇi veḷanda yatrāva — dakuṇu muhudu tīrayē ambalantoṭa saha hambantoṭa atara pihiṭi goḍavāya dhīvara gammānayaṭa ki.mī. 06 pamana durin mīṭara 32k gæḅuru muhudu paḷen hamuvana mema pæraṇi dævamaya yātrāva 2008 vasarēdī handunā ganu læbina. kristu pūrva 2vana siyavasaṭa ayatvana bava tahavuru kara æti mema yatrāva āsiyānu śāntikara kaḷapayen hamuvana pæraṇima muhudu yatrāva vē. mema yatrāvē rægena giya veḷanda bhānḍa lesa mæṭi bandun, æḅarum gal, pirisindu karana lada taḅa, yakaḍa, vīdurumaya dravya saha venat purā kruti rāśiyak handunā gata hæka. vasara dedahakaṭa pera indīya sāgarayē veḷandāma piḷibadava saha nāvuka tākṣaṇaya piḷibanda toraturu rāśiyak mē yātrāvē paryēṣaṇa magin heḷidaravvē.

Transcription:

godavaya parani velanda yatrava — dakunu muhudu tiraye ambalantota saha hambantota atara pihiti godavaya dhivara gammanayata ki.mi. 06 pamana durin mitara 32k gaḅuru muhudu palen hamuvana mema parani davamaya yatrava 2008 vasaredi handuna ganu labina. kristu purva 2vana siyavasata ayatvana bava tahavuru kara ati mema yatrava asiyanu shantikara kalapayen hamuvana paranima muhudu yatrava ve. mema yatrave ragena giya velanda bhanda lesa mati bandun, aḅarum gal, pirisindu karana lada taḅa, yakada, vidurumaya dravya saha venat pura kruti rashiyak handuna gata haka. vasara dedahakata pera indiya sagaraye velandama pilibadava saha navuka takshanaya pilibanda toraturu rashiyak me yatrave paryeshana magin helidaravve.

Automated translation (not verified):

Godwaya Old Merchant Ship — Kms to Godwaya fishing village located between Ambalantota and Hambantota on the southern coast. This old wooden vessel found in 32 meters deep sea level at a distance of about 06 was identified in 2008. Dated to the 2nd century BC, this vessel is the oldest sea vessel found in the Asia Pacific. Pottery, grindstones, refined copper, iron, vitreous and other artefacts can be identified as trade goods carried on this vessel. The research of this vessel reveals a lot of information about trade and naval technology in the Indian Ocean two thousand years ago.

Gallery information:

These photos were taken at the Maritime Museum in Galle (Sri Lanka) which include objects recovered from the 2nd century B.C. Godawaya shipwreck. The Maritime Museum is housed in Galle's historic Dutch warehouse (built in 1671) and opened its doors on May 9, 1992. The Maritime Archaeology Museum is serving as a centre of education for various groups of visitors and researchers of Southern region of Sri Lanka.