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Garloo said: >in our ares there are wrecks that are visited by thousands of divers a year. >these wrecks are over 75 years old. there is nothing of archeological >significance on any of them. With all due respect, i'd like to point out that there is another consideration here. I agree that a "recent" wreck has little archaeological value *right now*. But later in time, others might find that such a wreck, intact, would be extremely valuable and interesting -- exactly the same thrill that you feel when you find something, many years after the ship went down. *Conservation* is a noble principle/philosophy (whether it be environmental conservation, historical conservation, whatever) that is benificently and altruistically far-sighted: it means taking into consideration *others that come after us*. Still, it's the (contemporary) individual diver's choice whether other/future divers' enjoyment is an important/worthy consideration. Garloo again: >the archaeologists have >been scamming the public with this crap for years. they get away with it >because they have convinced the mindless ones that they are the only ones >that should be entrusted with the "sacred duty". IMHO, that's a rather harsh judgement of archaeologists -- and an understandable, if unfair, reaction to the same kind of harshness with which salvors have been judged. I see archaeologists as people with specific, very disciplined training and methods, interest, and dedication to much more than the "now" and the "thing." These characteristics, of "disciplined training and methods, interest, and dedication", *do not* exclude all wreck divers who go hunting for stuff to bring up. But the *goals* of the two different camps are usually very different -- and usually at odds with each other. Archaeologists seek *information* -- information which will last far longer than the thing itself -- information which is lost forever if the thing that holds it remains hidden,is moved, or is destroyed. Some/much of the most important/valuable information is found in the *context* of the thing: its location, surroundings, other stuff associated with it, etc. This is where some of the conflict arises: when stuff is taken, the context is destroyed. Divers who enjoy "the hunt" itself, and the accomplishment/satisfaction/benefits of the recovery, don't want to be denied those pleasures -- entirely understandable. So maybe, a possible solution to this ongoing conflict would be for the archaeological community to help/enable "salvors" to raise their appreciation of the hunt *for info* to a higher level/value, and raise the value/pleasure of *conservation* to a level higher than just the ownership of the thing. In this way, the pleasure of the hunt is still there -- the challenge of recovery ( of the info now, rather than the thing) is still there -- but the end results/benefits are shared by many. Just some thoughts...... Christopher A. Brown The Technical Diving Video Library (TDVL) http://www.neuro.fsu.edu/dave/docent.htm (US & Canada): 1-800-373-7222 Outside US:904-942-7222 Fax:904-942-1240 Life is short -- this is not a rehearsal. +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ Please send messages for the WreckDiver list to: wreckdiver@wreckdiver.com Send subscription and help requests to: wreckdiver-request@wreckdiver.com +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
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