2019年1月16日，考古队员在沙特塞林港遗址水下作业

由中国国家文物局水下文化遗产保护中心和沙特国家考古中心组织的中沙联合考古队，在对塞林港遗址开展的第二次联合发掘中，获得重要成果。考古队发现大型建筑遗址，出土了包括中国瓷器在内的诸多文物，为研究海上丝绸之路提供了珍贵资料。

本次考古工作分为田野考古、水下考古、遥感考古，从陆地、海洋、空中对塞林港遗址进行全面的调查、发掘与研究，取得超乎预期的成果。

据介绍，陆地考古方面，考古队发现成片的大型建筑基址，其中一座可能为清真寺，并发现排列有序的珊瑚石墓群;水下考古方面，确认了港湾与航道;遥感考古方面，利用无人机航拍，发现并确认了被流沙掩盖的古代季节性河流，解答了塞林港选址于此的重要缘由。

遗址发掘中，考古队员清理出铜砝码、青金石、串珠、玛瑙、象牙制品、钱币等，同时还发现了阿拉伯石器、波斯釉陶以及来自中国的瓷器，包括宋元时期的龙泉青瓷和景德镇青白瓷以及明清时期的青花瓷。

塞林港遗址位于阿拉伯半岛西南部，地处红海之滨。据阿拉伯文献记载，塞林港大约在公元9至13世纪进入繁荣期，遗址为一处重要的朝圣贸易港，面积超过100万平方米。

中国驻沙特大使李华新在考察时说，此次联合考古工作，开创了中国和阿拉伯世界“一带一路”文化合作的先河。

考古隊员在沙特塞林港遗址现场工作

塞林港遗址发现的中国瓷片

The China-Saudi Arabia joint archaeologicalteam，organized by the National Centerof Underwater Cultural Heritage of the StateAdministration of Cultural Heritage and the SaudiNational Archaeological Center，made extraordinaryachievements in its second excavation at the ruins ofal Serrian port. The archaeological team discoveredthe ruins of huge buildings and unearthed numerouscultural relics including Chinese porcelain， providinginsights for the study of the Maritime Silk Road.

The archaeological excavation was organizedinto field，underwater，and remote-sensing work.The comprehensive survey， excavation and researchcarried out on the ruins of al Serrian port from land，sea and air have achieved results that far exceededexpectations.

It was leamed that the land archaeological teamdiscovered plots for huge buildings， one of which maybe a mosque， and an orderly corallite cemetery; theunderwater archaeological team identified the harborand waterway; the remote-sensing archaeologicalteam，aided with aerial photo by drones，discoveredand confirmed the ancient seasonal rivers coveredby quicksand， and explained why al Serrian port waslocated there.

During the excavation，archaeologists uncoveredcopper weights， lazurite， strings of beads， agate，ivory products，coins，etc. At the same time，Arabicstoneware， Persian glazed pottery and porcelainfrom China， including Longquan celadonware andJingdezhen bluish white porcelain of the Song andYuan Dynasties as well as blue and white porcelain ofthe Ming and Qing Dynasties，were also unearthed.

The ruins of al Serrian port were located in thesouthwestern Arabian Peninsula on the Red Sea.According to Arabic documents， al Serrian portwas prosperous from roughly the ninth to the 13thcentury. The site. with an area of more than onemillion square meters， was an important port for Hadjpilgrimage trade.

Li Huaxin， China's ambassador to Saudi Arabia，said during the inspection that the joint archaeologjcalwork opened the way for the Belt and Road culturalcooperation between China and the Arab world.