Page 207 - Manual for Activities directed at the Underwater Cultural Heritage

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in educating the public, the media and politicians they will not gain their support. Treasure hunting could then seem more appealing and politicians could refrain from supporting the cause of archaeologists against the long-term interest of the population.
Site management upon
termination of fieldwork
Site management shall also provide for protection and management upon termination of fieldwork. The activities during fieldwork described above -informing the public, monitoring and site stabilization- are cer- tainly still relevant upon termination of fieldwork.
In addition, properly winding up a project directed at underwater cultural heritage is a major concern of site management once the fieldwork has been completed. In any project directed at a site, the fieldwork should be properly terminated: no ex- cavation trenches should remain open; no debris should be left behind. A management plan should ensure that the site and any remains that are left in situ are as stable as possible. This is less an issue in operations where excavation of underwater cultural heritage is undertaken in advance of a development project and if the site is completely cleared. However, even in development-led fieldwork, a site may not be cleared of everything, let alone its meaning. The development project may still be in a phase of planning, and the heritage investigated may be an inspiration for the way this planning is finalized. Even in such cases, the archaeological work should therefore be properly finished and it should be ensured that the site is stable and protected, so that it can best ‘survive’ the development project.
Simple technical and practical measures are a necessary condition for any long-term protection and management. Dependent on the significance of what remains in situ or on the significance attributed to the location, the site can also be recommended for a specific protection scheme, for controlled access, or for wider exposure in the media. The management
Conservation and site management