Archaeology

The UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage is the international community’s response to the destruction of submerged archaeological sites by treasure-hunters and industrial activities. It recognizes the need to ensure the same protection to underwater heritage as that already accorded to land-based heritage. The Convention is the foremost international treaty concerning submerged heritage and has been ratified by 48 States. Over time, it can be expected that the Convention will be ratified universally and that it will put an end to the brutal treasure hunting currently menacing major submerged archaeological sites. It will also have a considerable influence on the development of the discipline of underwater archaeology, for which it sets ethic and scientific guidelines.  The paper illustrates the legal content and practical impact of the UNESCO 2001 Convention. It also shows which opportunities the Convention opens in terms of protection, State cooperation and the cohesion of the discipline of underwater archaeology on an international level. The exchange and cooperation between authorities as well as the community of underwater archaeologists with UNESCO is encouraged.

Edited by Dirk Timmermans, Ulrike Guérin and Arturo Rey da Silva.

Cultural heritage is the physical traces of history. It is the silent witness of conflicts,
wars and clashes between nations. The understanding of our shared heritage fosters mutual understanding, reconciliation and peace.

This Teacher’s Manual is part of a package provided in support of the UNESCO educational project, ‘Heritage for Peace and Reconciliation’, which also includes films and a brochure. The Heritage for Peace and Reconciliation project will help educators to introduce the concepts of dialogue, peace and reconciliation into their curriculum through the understanding of cultural heritage. They may use the examples provided to prepare school projects, excursions or exhibitions, or to enrich everyday lessons.

One important occasion to pursue activities and cooperative initiatives could be each year on 21 December, the UN’s International Peace Day. Choosing a concrete time period and a concrete type of heritage, this manual focuses on underwater cultural heritage from the First World War, socially one of the most devastating wars of the last century. One of the novelties of that war, which had a particularly great impact on the civil population, was the development of naval warfare, and in particular submarine warfare. This warfare has left an extensive submerged heritage. While these educational materials focus on the underwater cultural heritage from the First World War, the same approach can be adopted using examples of underwater cultural heritage from the Second World War, or other periods of time in which conflict involved large numbers of engagements at sea.

The project was agreed upon by all States Parties to the UNESCO 2001 Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage. The States wish to use the Centenary of the First World War to promote peace education, in particular through fostering the protection and understanding of submerged heritage. The wish was for peace education on the occasion of the Centenary of the First World War, especially fostering the protection and understanding of submerged heritage. They also wished to draw attention to the newly provided protection afforded to underwater cultural heritage from that period by the UNESCO 2001 Convention.

Overview of the underwater cultural heritage of the Latin American and Caribbean region and the 2001 UNESCO Convention for the UNESCO Journal "Culture & Development" (nº 13, 2015) focused on the protection of the underwater cultural heritage.

Presentación del patrimonio cultural subacuático de la región de Latino América y el caribe así como de la Convención de la UNESCO de 200, en la revista "Cultura y Desarrollo" de la UNESCO (nº 13, 2015) dedicada a la protección del patrimonio cultural subacuático.

This article introduces this special issue of the Journal of Maritime Archaeology by giving a brief introduction to the current situation of the practice of maritime archaeology in Latin America, as well as reviewing the main challenges that the discipline faces here. An assessment of existing regional cooperation, the presence of maritime archaeology
within the international community and its importance to develop new theoretical and methodological perspectives that advance access to knowledge is made. Finally, the article focuses on some of the current work carried out in Latin America.