Spain doubled down last week on her refusal to wor
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Posted On: 03/04/2019 6:10:59 AM
Spain doubled down last week on her refusal to work with salvors. Tinkerbell ain’t going to change that.
They just don't like salvors. Read 'em and weep Patsy.
Why does the Convention refuse the commercial exploitation of underwater sites?
First and foremost, underwater cultural heritage is not “treasure”, but “cultural heritage”.
A wreck is not only a cargo, but also the remains of a ship, its passengers and their lives. A submerged city is as precious to archaeologists and historians as Pompeii, as such sites give valuable testimony to historic events, such as the sinking of the Titanic, the discovery of new continents or the defeat of Kublai Khan off the coast of Japan.
Commercial enterprises, in search of sellable objects, rarely document sites they exploit and focus on gold, silver or ceramic objects, as conservation is less costly. On several occasions they even dumped parts of the cargo recovered from a wreck back into the sea (destroying it forever), when they were not in a sellable state or in order to keep prices on the market high. In many of such cases, no documentation is made available to archaeologists, no thought is given to the site and its historical context, and much of the most valuable information is lost. If a site is touched, it should therefore only be disturbed for scientific or public reasons and by archaeologists trained in conservation techniques and documentation.
Sometimes the objection is made that many thousands of miles of water cannot be protected and that sites need to be excavated to save them. Too many objects would then be recovered that could not be properly stored and should therefore be sold. However, many measures, like sonar buoys, metal cages or sand bag coverings allow efficient protection of sites, once they are found by national authorities.
In addition, the 2001 Convention calls for States to take measures against the illicit trafficking of cultural objects recovered from the sea. If a treasure hunter is unable to sell pillaged objects, the financial interest of illegal excavations will decrease.
http://www.unesco.org/new/en/culture/themes/u...questions/
They just don't like salvors. Read 'em and weep Patsy.
Why does the Convention refuse the commercial exploitation of underwater sites?
First and foremost, underwater cultural heritage is not “treasure”, but “cultural heritage”.
A wreck is not only a cargo, but also the remains of a ship, its passengers and their lives. A submerged city is as precious to archaeologists and historians as Pompeii, as such sites give valuable testimony to historic events, such as the sinking of the Titanic, the discovery of new continents or the defeat of Kublai Khan off the coast of Japan.
Commercial enterprises, in search of sellable objects, rarely document sites they exploit and focus on gold, silver or ceramic objects, as conservation is less costly. On several occasions they even dumped parts of the cargo recovered from a wreck back into the sea (destroying it forever), when they were not in a sellable state or in order to keep prices on the market high. In many of such cases, no documentation is made available to archaeologists, no thought is given to the site and its historical context, and much of the most valuable information is lost. If a site is touched, it should therefore only be disturbed for scientific or public reasons and by archaeologists trained in conservation techniques and documentation.
Sometimes the objection is made that many thousands of miles of water cannot be protected and that sites need to be excavated to save them. Too many objects would then be recovered that could not be properly stored and should therefore be sold. However, many measures, like sonar buoys, metal cages or sand bag coverings allow efficient protection of sites, once they are found by national authorities.
In addition, the 2001 Convention calls for States to take measures against the illicit trafficking of cultural objects recovered from the sea. If a treasure hunter is unable to sell pillaged objects, the financial interest of illegal excavations will decrease.
http://www.unesco.org/new/en/culture/themes/u...questions/
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