Page 66 - Manual for Activities directed at the Underwater Cultural Heritage

 © J. Gribble. Desktop work. All preliminary studies should start with a so-called desk-top phase, bringing together all information from archives, maps and surveys for other purposes that can be relevant for the project. One of the obvious starting points for desktop studies is the inventory of previous archaeological observations which is kept by the competent authority, but information from hydrographic offices, geological surveys and other sources should equally be included.
The list of issues to be addressed in a project design, according to Rule 10, is relatively comprehensive. They should all be included and are equally important for larger and for smaller projects. There is, for instance, no justification for work that is unsafe or environmentally unfriendly, or for not writing a report just because an activity is of a lesser scale. All listed items are more fully explained in the further Rules of the Annex.
Previous or preliminary studies
A project design should begin with a description of the con- cerned site and then identify any previous research that has been undertaken on it, or any related themes, and should similarly include a literature review. This allows the new project to benefit from the findings of other re- searchers. It can also save time and costs by avoiding duplication of work that has already been done. The evaluation of previous studies also helps to identify gaps in the knowledge, that is, topics
which have not been dealt with or require further research. Areas of research that may need to be considered include archaeological studies, historical studies, biological studies or geophysical studies. The project design should also identify any known modification to the site from natural causes (storms, sea level changes, currents) or by human intervention (engineering, diving), in order to assess any damage to the integrity of the site. See Rules 14 - 15
Project statement and objectives
A ‘project statement’ is a brief sentence or paragraph that enables the reader to quickly understand the overall nature and scope of the project. It also defines the logic of the intervention. This could be as simple as, “This project is an archaeological excavation of [the site] to uncover new information about the
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Project Design