An intact 12th-century junk was found on the bottom of the South China Sea in 1987. It took 20 years just to develop an excavation plan that preserved this priceless time capsule.

Published June 14, 2022

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/history-magazine/article/china-kept-this-800-year-old-shipwreck-a-secret-for-decades