UNESCO, URI, and Archaeology in the Deep Blue Sea: Archaeological Ethics and Archaeological Oceanography

Abstract

Multiple groups have interests that intersect within the new field of deep submergence (beyond the 50 meter range of SCUBA) archaeology. These groups" differing priorities present challenges for interdisciplinary collaboration, particularly as there are no established guidelines for best practices in such scenarios. Associating the term "archaeology" with projects directed at underwater cultural heritage that are guided by archaeologists poses a real risk to that heritage.Recognizing that the relevant professional organizations, local laws, and conventions currently have little ability to protect pieces of cultural heritage across disciplines and international boundaries, the authors propose institution-specific mechanisms, called Archaeology Review Boards (ARBs), guided by local and international laws and conventions concerning cultural heritage, as the best means to provide oversight for academically centered archaeological activities at the local level. KeywordsArchaeology. Ethics. 2001 UNESCO convention. Underwater cultural heritage 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 Page 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 Page 4 Exploration of the deepWe are fortunate to live in an age when scientific and technological innovation has resulted in the creation of a variety of vehicles (both human driven and remotely operated) that have extended our reach into the deepest waters. As a result, there have already been a number of situations, both intentional and unintentional, where using these vehicles has resulted in the discovery of underwater cultural heritage, and some oceanographic expeditions are indeed now setting out with the precise purpose of discovering shipwrecks, underwritten by federal funding for ocean exploration. 1 The creators and operators of these craft are ocean scientists and engineers located in industry and in the oceanographic research community, and in addition to developing the vehicles used for deep-water survey and exploration, they generally subsidize deep-water archaeological work substantially or exclusively through their own financial means.In fact, one of the highest premiums is on space on research vessels. Costs average $30,000- Page 6 show the potential for research collaboration beyond the basic commercial relationships that already exist between the oil and gas industry and the CRM archaeological community.However Despite the introduction of this new archaeological-oceanographic platform, it appears that no one has yet stepped forward to ask the difficult but necessary questions this new disciplinary and operational paradigm raises from the perspect...