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Paul
maybe you are telling the truth about your attitude towards divers.
unfortunately for us that is not what the community of Arkies is saying.
look at the record pal
1- Shipwreck act of (i forget the year) that placed all wrecks in
inland waterways & the ocean within 3 miles in the ownership of the
individual states.
2- look at the way the Salvors in Fla. were treated over the years
since there efforts to find "treasure ships" brought up $$$. all there
efforts to document using legitimate archaeologists were stonewald by the
jealous arkies.
3- what about the UN MEETING IN SOUTH AMERICA (i think it was Buenos
Ares) last year when a group of YOUR PEERS stood up & submitted a paper
demanding that NO WRECK over a certain age could be dived by divers.
(i love the next part)
until the ARKIES either investigate it or not at there discretion regardless
of the time involved. their attitude was that they would rather see the wreck
& the artifacts turn to dust & be buried by the sand (never to be
recovered)!!!!
******I HAVE TAKEN SOME LIBERTIES WITH THE TEXT BUT THE MEANING HAS
NOT BEEN EMBELLISHED ***************
4- just a question -who found the wreck you are researching in
Florida & how??
In a message dated 97-01-25 17:25:55 EST, you write:
<< Subj: Re: Archaeologists
Date: 97-01-25 17:25:55 EST
From: pettennude@us*.ne* (Paul E. Pettennude)
To: jlydon@zi*.ne* (John Lydon), wreckdiver@wreckdiver.com
Why do you lump all archaeologists into one category? By the same token I
could say that all divers are low life, loud mouth fools, but then again I
would be lumping myself in both categories since I am an underwater
archaeologist
I personally don not see any harm in "polishing up" the bell, nor do I
consider the Edmond Fitzgerald an archaeological site.
There is a misconception about what archaeologists do. We are no longer
into collecting "things", but in trying to understand what happened when
things were not being written or when the written record was lost. The
Edmond Fitzgerald does not fit into this category because we know what
happened.
By the same token, there is a shipwreck off Florida which may hold a key to
altering history. There is some evidence which indicates the vessel is
Portuguese and it predated Columbus's arrival by about a hundred years. In
this instance I would not want a bunch of artifact collectors screwing around
with the record until things are properly sorted out. This kind of work
takes a while. We have to look at everything from the construction of the
vessel to everything left behind to determine that it was not a Spanish
vessel which had gotten its hands on a quantity of Portuguese coins.
This summer I will be working in Belize trying to piece together a real
puzzle. I have a site which involves a lagoon and in the middle of the
lagoon is a sacred Mayan shrine. We want to learn exactly how the water in
this lagoon played a role in the rituals associated with the shrine. Were
there offering? Were there burials? Was the lagoon used for a dump? I sure
as hell don't want a bunch of divers crawling into the water collecting pots
while we are trying to sort out history.
Archaeologists are not out to keep you from collecting stuff. Just use some
common sense. Ask yourself, "Did someone die on the wreck?" If so, have the
decency to leave things as they are out of respect for those who died. Ask
yourself, "Is what I'm taking unique?" If the vessel played a significant
role in history or is the last surviving example of an abandoned technology,
why not check with the local maritime museum and put together a project
whereby the whole community gets to see what you recovered. Be sure to have
an archaeologist as part of your team to document the work.
Enough said. I yield the soapbox.
Paul Pettennude
At 04:10 PM 1/25/97 -0500, you wrote:
>D,
>personally, I'd rather see the bell in it's "original" shape, style,
whatever
>you'd like to call it.
>
>I guess the tourists didn't think it was pretty enough, so they changed it.
>
>In either case, I can't see how the historical value has changed, whether
it's
>painted or polished, it's still a memorial to the crew of the Edmund
Fitzgerald.
>
>The Archaeologists "always" seem to cry foul when things aren't done they
way
>they deem fit. Kind of a shame really. Divers and Archaeologists working in
>tandem could do a lot of good work, but egos? get in the way??
>
>I'd love to see the memorial, maybe sometime soon I'll take a road trip out
to
>the Great Lakes and see it.
>
>Safe Diving,
>John
>
>John Lydon
>jlydon@zi*.ne*
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