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John,
I would like to respond to your comments....
At 12:11 AM 1/26/97 -0500, you wrote:
>
>I agree 100% for OLD spanish galleons, etc. We should learn all we can. I
won't
>agree when the Shipwrecks act "could" keep us off a 50 year old freighter.
>Nothing for an archaeologist to find that he couldn't look up somewhere.
Paul:
What do you mean by "keep us off"? Let me ask. Did somebody die on this
wreck? What was its cargo? What is its provenance? Is the wreck now a
popular dive site?
I can think of lots of reasons why a given wreck should be off limits. But,
these should be decided on a case by case basis. I am totally against allowing
divers to dismantle a wreck where people of my country and heritage, or of my
world's space and time, have died. May be in another time and age
archaeologists should be allowed to study the site as we do with historic and
prehistoric sites today. By the same token, archaeologists do not totally
excavate a site today. Some of it is left for future study. Sites under study
should be granted a "hands off" visitation policy.
(Paul)
>> 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.
>
(John)
>Now this sounds interesting.
>
>Can you give the list more details? If not now (due to courts, litigation,
etc),
>how about updates in the future?
>(as you can see, I did not send this message to the list, but if you can, send
>the updates to everyone.).
>
>Let me play devil's advocate for a second. Can you (they) PROVE that the
sailors
>made it to land? Maybe they perished in a storm, never made it.
>This point really isn't important, except for the historians to argue about,
but
>if archaeologists can learn this kind of stuff from the wreck, that'd be great!
>
Paul:
This is going to remain a secret for a while. Yes the wreck is important for a
wreck. We really do not have a good example of an early 15th century caravel.
Shipwrights of the period kept the plans in their heads. We actually know
almost zip about early European ships.
Paul
>Safe diving,
>
>John Lydon
>jlydon@zi*.ne*
>
>
>
("`-''-/").___..--''"`-._ Paul E. Pettennude, Ph.D.
`6_ 6 ) `-. ( ).`-.__.`) Maya Underwater Research Center
(_Y_.)' ._ ) `._ `.``-..-' pettennude@us*.ne*
_..`--'_..-_/ /--'_.' ,' Telephone (305) 554-1557
(il),-'' (li),' ((!.-' Fax Phone (305) 554-1616
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