Page 309 - Manual for Activities directed at the Underwater Cultural Heritage

the team or its research. This may be so, but it is no excuse for not communicating. It is therefore wise to compensate with other team-members who have more affinity with public archaeology.
In addition to the above, heritage
tourism is one of the fastest-
growing segments of the tourism
industry and visitors appreciate
the opportunity to experience first-hand authentic sites and artefacts as a way to connect to their past. Promotion of public access to archaeological sites is part of UNESCO’s Guidelines (see Rule 7), and is related to the idea that the heritage has a unique value for humanity. Furthermore, heritage tourism provides real and significant economic benefits for the local community. Often, one of the first ways potential visitors learn of sites to visit is through popular presentations about projects and discoveries. This interest then leads to tourism and additional learning.
Advantages of sharing
information
Educating the public about the goals of archaeology and about the results of archaeological research has multiple advantages, especially where the un- derwater cultural heritage is concerned. Because of years of misinformation from the media and propaganda produced by commercial shipwreck salvagers, much of the public does not understand the difference between scientific archaeology and treasure hunting. Divers who would never dream of chipping a brick out of a historic building to take home do not see anything wrong with chipping a porthole out of a historic shipwreck. There seems to be a misunderstanding in the minds of many people that heritage sites on the bottom of the ocean are eligible for looting. Although much legislation has been directed toward combating the looting of underwater cultural heritage sites, perhaps the best way to change public opinion is through effective
© M. Harpster.The 2008
class of the Maritime Heritage Awareness CertificateTraining, Karpaz Maritime Heritage Program, Cyprus.
A key component of the Karpaz Maritime Heritage Program was
a public outreach and education programme supported by the Nautical Archaeology Society, called the Maritime Heritage Awareness CertificateTraining. This program focused on engaging local dive businesses to aid in
the protection of the maritime cultural heritage of Cyprus.
This class, from April 2008, incorporated individuals from
the Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities, making it the first bi-communal training program on the island of Cyprus dedicated to protecting the island’s maritime heritage. Pictured (in alphabetical order) are Drew Anderson, Harald Barthel, Cengiz Bergun, Caroline Brash, Laura Coombe, Andrew Costas, Jon Duerden, Marios Evangelou, Bob Harvey, Clive Hemming, Ian Hodge,
Steph Lawlor, Clive Martin, Diane Millward, Nicos Nicolaou, Christos Patsalides, and Mark Thorne.
308 education.
Dissemination