Off Korea

Jul 30, 2007 10:09 GMT  ·  By

Octopuses amaze us with their intelligence, body flexibility and complex behavior. It is said that if they could live at least half of our life, they would be the most intelligent species dominating the planet. But after the first spawn, all octopuses die...

They have an amazing memory and a conceptual thinking that greatly surpass most mammals; they form underwater "cities", in which each inhabitant occupies a cave or hole. This habit makes them enter ceramic pots, a method which is used in many areas to capture them.

Due to this habit an orange sized octopus helped in the discovery of a hoard of ancient pottery in South Korea.

A fisherman caught the octopus off South Korea's west shore in May and his attention was attracted by the fact that the animal appeared to be hiding under a plate. When the archaeologists investigated the area, they found a 12th century wooden wreck buried in mudflats. So far, over 500 pieces of porcelain have been recovered with the help of scuba divers. "These are the highest quality artifacts ever discovered in our seas," said Yun Yong-i, a Korean art history professor from Myongji University.

"I can't believe how such a small octopus managed to cover its shell with such a large plate. I guess it meant for us to discover the artifacts." Moon Whan-suk, from the National Maritime Museum, told Reuters.

The porcelain, encountered near Taean, south-west of the capital Seoul, is believed to date from the Goryeo dynasty, which ruled Korea from the 10th to the 14th century. The 7.7m-long (25ft) wreck could still have aboard up to 2,000 further pieces, from ancient bowls to plates and other types of pottery.

The new discovery is the most recent among the ones involving shipwrecks laden with relics already found along the west coast of South Korea.