Shipwrecks and the Maritime History of Singapore

Book excerpt: On 16 June 2021 the National Heritage Board announced the successful conclusion of the archaeological excavation of two shipwrecks at the eastern approach to Singapore. This maritime archaeology excavation, the largest in Singapore’s waters, was conducted by the Archaeology Unit of the ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute over a six-year period. This book documents these two shipwrecks, complemented by essays on Singapore’s maritime history, from Temasek in the fourteenth century through the emergence of country trade in the late eighteenth century. These two shipwrecks challenge us to rethink Singapore’s history as globally connected, determined by what was happening on the seas in and around the island.