Page 390 - Green - Maritime Archaeology: A Technical Handbook. 2nd ed

Chapter 14
Cultural Resource Management
I. INTRODUCTION
Most maritime countries have an underwater cultural heritage and many have a long and important history in maritime activities. In some cases, this underwater heritage—largely ancient shipwreck sites—has been looted by divers and treasure hunters and, as a result, what little that survives needs to be preserved. In such cases, the immediate task is to set in place measures that, in the long and short term, will actively discourage the des- truction of underwater cultural heritage. What is required is appropriate legislation and a cultural resource management plan.
To achieve this there needs to be a public (local, national, and interna- tional) desire that such a site should be protected. To achieve this archae- ologists and underwater heritage managers need to take a proactive stand. It is no longer reasonable for archaeologists to be totally engrossed in the academic aspects of their work; after all it is the public that funds most of this. Nor is it appropriate for cultural resource managers to make the access to sites difficult. How many times does one hear a practitioner in the field lamenting the fact that a treasure hunter has managed another piece of good publicity, yet the practitioner does not like the media. It is a war. A war that requires people who care about archaeology and heritage to get out and sell their product.
Management is part of this process. Going back to fundamentals, it is necessary first to change attitudes. There will be a number of people with a vested interest in underwater heritage (often referred to as “stakehold- ers” in the current management vernacular), who must be persuaded to
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