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Well put. I agree. Joe Citelli ----- Original Message ----- From: Charles Roth <divr555@ho*.co*> To: <techdiver@aquanaut.com> Cc: <croth123@ao*.co*> Sent: Thursday, October 25, 2001 8:22 AM Subject: RE: UNESCO > 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'. > -- Send mail for the `techdiver' mailing list to `techdiver@aquanaut.com'. Send subscribe/unsubscribe requests to `techdiver-request@aquanaut.com'.
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