Page 54 - Manual for Activities directed at the Underwater Cultural Heritage

 © Metsähallitus. A diver checking an information plate at the Stora Hästö underwater trail, Finland.
Heritage trails, including heritage trails underwater, have become part of the tourism infrastructure in many countries. Information plates are often installed on the trails for tourists’ use.The informa- tion relates to the natural environ- ment, the cultural landscape and cultural remains.
© Seger van den Brenk. A
group of recrea- tional divers using different seasons to document a
site discovered near Hoorn, Netherlands.
The site is close to the city of Hoorn.The
divers of this group
work under the control of the competent authorities. In
close cooperation with a range of historians and archaeologists they produced a book on their find. The site is preserved in situ.
on the one hand, and to buried deposits of ar- chaeological remains on the other. To the former access is usually permitted, for the latter access is hardly an issue. Protection prevails since intrusion and excavation are subject to authorization.
Underwater heritage is not visible in everyday life. It would therefore be easy to deny access by a comparison with invisible heritage on land. However, diving is not excavating, and access and intrusion are not the same. Underwater cultural heritage may not be visible in everyday life, but it nevertheless includes both exposed and buried remains. Some sites can hardly be experienced or accessed other than through specialized scientific excavation, but for others this is different. Like on land, there are sites for which access is not problematic and sites for which it is.
Economy, tourism and leisure diving
It has been said that the past is a foreign country and the same can be argued for the underwater world that captivates and enthralls. Experiencing the past under water is rapidly becoming an enormous asset in the leisure industry and the ‘experience economy’.
This development has
risks and opportunities
for protection. Travellers have the tendency to take souvenirs back home. Time-travellers in the underwater world are no exception. Many divers have in fact been reported thoughtlessly removing from the sea souvenirs. Occasionally, operators of diving schools and diving centres recommend visits to attractive souvenir-hunting locations. The self- defeating nature of such an approach is evident. If
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General Principles