For a long time, the Silk Road across the continent was believed to have been the primary connection between eastern and western Asia. But we now know—thanks in part to the Belitung, as the shipwreck is known—that the maritime route through the Strait of Malacca, the narrow strip of sea snaking around the Indonesian island of Sumatra, linking the Pacific and Indian Oceans, was equally as important.

It was treacherous, however, full of shallow waters and reefs. It’s believed that the ship hit one of these reefs, lost its hull, and dropped its heavy contents, which sank to the shallow ocean floor rather than scattering through the sea. Carefully packed and able to settle into the sand, the 60,000-some items were relatively intact when a commercial German excavation team, hired by the Indonesian government, pulled them from the water in the late ’90s.

First exhibited in 2005 in Singapore, which purchased the contents from the excavation company, the artifacts were destined for display at the Smithsonian’s Sackler Gallery in 2011. That is, until archeologists and scientists demanded that the institution cancel the show, claiming that it would sully the Smithsonian’s reputation because the commercial excavation was conducted too hastily and not in accordance with academic standards—and hence could have led to the destruction of valuable information.

But some information is better than none, and the Asia Society is embracing the opportunity to show the public the archaeological finds, while remaining sensitive to the problems with for-profit excavations. “The Belitung is one of the most significant archaeological finds in recent history,” says Tan. “We believe that American audiences should have the opportunity to see this material, which has transformed our understanding of intra-Asian trade and the scale and nature of globalization in Asia over a thousand years ago. The exhibition and programming also provide an opportunity to discuss these issues.”