Page 88 - Manual for Activities directed at the Underwater Cultural Heritage

© C.de Juan.Cargo of amphoras from the 1st century BC shipwreck Bou Ferrer, Villajoyosa, Spain.
Assessing the potential to obtain data is part of the standard site assessment procedure. It defines the site’s scientific importance. Nevertheless, it is one on the most difficult aspects to assess
in a comprehensive manner due to fact that it is hard to predict future research questions. A
site may thus be considered
very important today because
it may provide key information pertinent to current research questions while it may all the same prove very important in the future as a test site for questions that have not been formulated yet. In assessing the potential
for obtaining data the following proxies can give indications: Has the stratigraphy been preserved? Are organic macro and micro- remains preserved? Is the site integrity preserved? What is the age of the site? Are there few or many sites of that period?
For some sites the potential for obtaining new data in the future is immediately evident. Other sites are better hidden and covered
in sediments and growth.The unrealized scientific potential is a very good reason for cautiousness and for the preference of in situ protection as the first option.
for instance, no longer be the only or best-known example of a certain phenomenon. Conversely, sites or remains that are not considered significant now, may prove of enormous consequence in the future.
The realization that these changes happen, has con- siderably influenced the world-wide development of heritage policies. Precautionary and blanket ap- proaches to protection, as well as a commitment to evaluate significance anew, whenever planning, de- velopment, specific circumstances or events give oc- casion, are therefore part of many heritage po- licies. Such renewed assessment can yet again be considered to be ‘preliminary work’. It is then often carried out within the context of impact assessments for planned developments that might ‘incidentally affect’ underwater cultural heritage, as addressed in article 5 of the convention.
Involving stakeholders
Besides being transparent in the assessment of significance, it is useful, if not indispensable, to involve crucial stakeholders. This may specifically mean consulting specialist researchers and en- gaging stakeholders in a consultation process. With underwater cultural heritage, this will also often mean engaging stakeholders from other States. Shipwreck sites are often related to tragedies. If these tragedies live on in popular memory, they may have a very specific significance both where they occurred and in the area where the relatives of crew and passengers lived or continue to live. It is clear, however, that the collective memory fades away over time, whether locally or in other affected regions. If,
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Preliminary work