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THERE'S GOLD IN THEM THA'RE HILLS! Okay, I've been reading this thread since Mike Barnette started it about a week ago. I've got some questions and comments that keep coming to mind every time I read this thread. Please understand that these are my unqualified opinions as I have no formal and little informal training in archeology (underwater or otherwise)or in law. First off, it seems that no one was all that interested in "cultural heritage" until big treasure finds occured. Several times in the past, governmental agencies have tried, sometimes successfully and sometimes not, to essentially steal the finds of treasure hunters, salvors, etc. Case in point is when Mel Fisher found the Atocha and the state came in and tried to confiscate all his finds. Now,in reading Article 18, it looks to me like the state will be able to walk into Mel's museums (and anyone elses)and confiscate everything in them. Countries that have had no interest in salvaging wrecks or preserving them have been eagerly jumping on this bandwagon. It appears that they see a windfall of gold, precious jewels and other items of value just sitting off their shores. Now they don't want to risk their own money in finding or salvaging these wrecks, but they certainly don't want some private individual(s)doing so either. Case in point, Spain has never attempted to search for, or in recent years, salvage any of their treasure ships lost in the 15th through 18th century but they certainly were quick to step up and claim ownership when someone else did. Several African nations, always in want of easy money, have also eagerly supported this Convention. They looked around and found that archeologists have been complaining about this for years. It was convenient for countries to take up the archeologists "purist" view that there should NEVER be any commercial venture attached to an excavation be it underwater or on land. They are using this archeology bent to legitimize their attempts to protect their pots of gold and UNESCO as their instrument to do so. Please don't get me wrong. I do believe in protecting and displaying our heritage. I would have never been able to go to the Mariner's Museum in Newport News and see pieces of the Monitor otherwise. I think that given the opportunity, many divers (including myself) would jump at the chance to participate in an underwater excavation. To use our diving skills and our interest in wrecks to do something productive. Unfortunately, most individuals and institutions seem to balk at the price tag of underwater excavation therefor it doesn't get funded and the wrecks slowly deteriorate away. Again, this is my humble, uneducated opinon about this. Chuck R _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp -- Send mail for the `techdiver' mailing list to `techdiver@aquanaut.com'. Send subscribe/unsubscribe requests to `techdiver-request@aquanaut.com'.
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