Page 74 - Manual for Activities directed at the Underwater Cultural Heritage

 © T. Maarleveld. A team of the South African Heritage Resource Agency, South Africa. Collaboration with all possible stakeholders is essential for assuring the best results of a project and the dissemination
of knowledge. An example for this is for instance the National Survey of Underwater Heritage in South Africa that is sponsored by the national lottery and is implemented by a team of the South African Heritage Resource Agency in close cooperation with national and local museums, as well as diving schools and recreational clubs.
possible and that observations and interpretations can clearly be distinguished. See Rules 30 - 31
Deposition of archives
The Rules define the project archives as including both the documentation and the underwater cultural heritage removed from a site. Ideally, both will be stored together. In practice, this is not always possible, as different materials have different re- quirements. The project design should indicate how these issues will be addressed in accordance with guidance from the competent authorities. Two equally important considerations apply. One is the integrity of the site, documentation and collection. The other is appropriate access for researchers and the general public. All documentation regarding underwater cultural heritage – including heritage removed from a site – should be stored in an archival environment to ensure it is retained and available for future generations. Appropriate storage should be established for records such as photographs, drawings, field notes, reports and any other electronic data. Museums, cultural heritage management agen- cies, government libraries and other dedicated archive facilities may all be suitable repositories. See Rules 32 - 34
Programme for publication
The information gained from investigation of sites of underwater cultural heritage is essentially public information. It is therefore important that any pro- ject directed at underwater cultural heritage in- cludes a commitment to publish the findings of that
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Project Design