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Pilar Luna Erreguerena(Mexico) |
Archaeologist Pilar Luna Erreguerena is the founder of the Underwater Archaeological Division in Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH), and has been its head since 1980. Since then, she has directed numerous projects in maritime and inland waters that include prehistoric, pre-Hispanic, colonial and modern sites. She has also participated in fieldwork in the Caribbean, Central America, and Turkey.
Over the course of thirty years, Pilar has been dedicated to consolidating underwater archaeology in her country, raising consciousness about the existence and importance of this portion of the national legacy, forming new generations of underwater archaeologists, and struggling in a constant battle against treasure hunters. Pilar is a member of several international councils, including the International Committee on Underwater Cultural Heritage (ICUCH/ICOMOS); UNESCO SHA Committee; and UNESCO Scientific and Technical Advisory Body (STAB) for the UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage (2001). She is also an Emeritus Member of the Society for Historical Archaeology’s Advisory Council on Underwater Archaeology (ACUA).
Pilar has written numerous articles and given lectures in Mexico and other countries. In January 1997, she received the SHA’s Award of Merit, “for pioneering in the recognition, exploration and preservation of the underwater archaeological heritage of Mexico,” and in January 2010, she was awarded with SHA’s J.C. Harrington Medal, for a lifetime dedicated to underwater archaeology.
Abstract
Underwater Archaeology in México: From the bottom of the sea to a crater in a volcano
Over thirty years, underwater archaeology division at Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) has gone through diverse stages and fulfilled assorted projects in marine waters, in cenotes (sinkholes) and inundates caves, at the lagoons in the crater of a volcano, and in a beach in Baja California searching for the remains of a Manila Galleon cargo. Amazing discoveries include bones of extinct animals, skeletons and ashes dating from more than ten thousand years ago, hundreds of pre-Hispanic Maya skulls, and shipwrecks ranging from the 16th to the 21st centuries. Since the beginning national and international collaboration has been the key.
Being part of the group of experts who worked for the elaboration of the text of the 2001 UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage paved the way for Mexico being one of the first State Parties in ratifying this Convention; this also led to become one of the initial group that integrated the Scientific and Technical Advisory Body (STAB). Instruments like the Convention and the ICOMOS International Charter on the Protection and Management of Underwater Cultural Heritage are crucial in helping to win the battle against the permanent pressure of treasure hunter groups in countries like Mexico, which has a leading role as pioneer in the protection of the underwater cultural heritage and the development of underwater archaeology in Latin America. Together with UNESCO, INAH Mexico organized in 2010 the course “Research and Management in Underwater and Maritime Archaeology”, in which 27 specialists from 14 countries of Latin America and the Caribbean participated. The future looks promising for this region.
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Dr Emad Khalil(Egypt) |
Dr Emad Khalil is the Director of the Centre for Maritime Archaeology and Underwater Cultural Heritage and an Associate Professor in Maritime Archaeology in the Faculty of Arts at Alexandria University, Egypt. Dr Khalil has been involved in maritime and underwater archaeology since the early 1990s. Between 1994 and 2001 Dr Khalil was the Deputy Director of the Institute of Nautical Archaeology – Egypt (INA-Egypt). In 1998 he obtained a BA in Greco-Roman Archaeology from the Alexandria University, and in 1999 he was employed as a Teaching Assistant at the Department of Archaeology and Graeco-Roman Studies of the Alexandria University. In 2001 Dr Khalil was granted an Egyptian government scholarship to study Maritime Archaeology at the University of Southampton, UK. He obtained MA and PhD degrees in Maritime Archaeology in 2002 and 2005 respectively, and between 2006 and 2008 he was granted a research fellowship at the Department of Archaeology, University of Southampton.
In the past five years, Dr Khalil has been involved in the creation and the operation of the Alexandria Centre for Maritime Archaeology and Underwater Cultural Heritage. The creation of the centre was a result of an EU Tempus project which involved a number of academic institutions from Egypt, the UK and France and for which Dr Khalil was the coordinator. Dr Khalil has contributed to a number of archaeological projects in Egypt such as the Sadana Island Shipwreck Excavation, the Pharos Project, the Northwest Coast Shipwreck Survey and the Lake Mareotis Research Project. He is also Egypt’s national representatives in the International Committee on Underwater Cultural Heritage (ICUCH/ICOMOS).
Abstract
Creating the Alexandria Centre for Maritime Archaeology and Underwater Cultural Heritage
The most recent report published by UNESCO Section for Museums and Cultural Objects concerning Underwater Archaeology Courses at Universities and Other institutions mentioned more than thirty facilities around the world that provide education and training in aspects of Underwater Archaeology, most of which are located in Europe and the USA, with some programs in Asia, Australia and South America. However, there is an evident lack in underwater archaeology education and training facilities in many parts of the world, in particular in Africa and the Arab Region. So far, the Alexandria Centre for Maritime Archaeology and Underwater Cultural Heritage is the only underwater archeology education centre in an Arab or African country. The centre was created in 2009 through a grant from the EU Tempus program (Trans European Mobility Scheme for University Studies). The project was a collaboration between eight institutions from the UK France and Egypt led by the University of Southampton as the grant holder. The project partners provided the necessary academic, technical and administrative expertise required for achieving the project’s objectives. The Tempus project aimed to create a specialised centre for postgraduate studies at the Alexandria University, which provides education and training at different levels in aspects of maritime archaeology and underwater cultural heritage. It also aimed to develop and implement postgraduate Diploma and Master programs in Maritime Archaeology and Underwater Cultural Heritage, designed and structured in accordance with EU standards.
Since its creation and until today, the centre has played a major role in the development of maritime and underwater archaeology in Egypt. It has also been a part of several international networks and projects with the aim of disseminating its activities and contributing to capacity building in the fast growing field of underwater archaeology. Accordingly, this paper will present the story of creating the Alexandria Centre for Maritime Archaeology and Underwater Cultural Heritage, as well as the current projects in which the centre is involved. It will also discuss some of the future plans for the centre and the role it is expected to play in the coming years as a regional centre of excellence in underwater archaeology.
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Dr Tim Curtis(UNESCO) |
Dr. Tim Curtis, the Head of the Culture Unit in UNESCO Bangkok office, is responsible for the coordination and implementation of UNESCO’s Culture Programme in South East Asia. He has been working on culture issues in international contexts for the last fifteen years, firstly as a cultural anthropologist and then for UNESCO. He received his PhD in Cultural Anthropology from the Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, where he wrote a thesis entitled ‘Talking about Place’ on the relationship between oral history and place amongst the Na’hai speakers of Malakula in the Republic of Vanuatu. From March 2000 until December 2002, he worked as a consultant for UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage Section at UNESCO Headquarters, primarily on the design and implementation of intangible heritage projects as well as on the launching of the UNESCO Proclamation of Masterpieces of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2001. In January 2003 he joined the Local and Indigenous Knowledge Systems (LINKS) Project in the UNESCO Science Sector, before moving to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, in December 2004, where, as programme specialist for Culture, he oversaw UNESCO culture sector programme in Tanzania, Madagascar, Comoros, Mauritius and Seychelles. In June 2009 He moved to UNESCO Bangkok office. He has worked on numerous international programmes related to culture in the fields of heritage, cultural industries, cultural policies and culture and development.
Abstract
The 2001 Convention: International cooperation in safeguarding our underwater cultural heritage
There is a vast and rich array of humanity’s cultural heritage which is located underwater, in oceans , rivers and lakes around the world. This heritage, in many cases, has been well protected precisely because it has been kept underwater, away from many of the threats that have confronted our land based heritage. However advances in technology, including in diving equipment, marine exploration, GIS positioning and so on, combined with a lack of adequate legal protection, have encouraged uncontrolled treasure hunting and other commercial exploitations that have rendered underwater archaeological sites increasingly vulnerable. These threats were the reasons why UNESCO, from 1993 onwards, worked and negotiated with experts nominated by more than 100 Member States in the formulation of the Convention on the Protection of Underwater Cultural Heritage which was adopted by the UNESCO General Conference in 2001. The 2001 Convention which entered into force in January 2009 has already been ratified by 37 States Parties, including Cambodia, the lone country in Asia-Pacific.
The 2001 Convention sets out basic principles for the protection of underwater cultural heritage and provides practical rules for activities directed at underwater cultural heritage, which have been recognized and accepted by all Member States. It offers protection mechanisms already provided in the 1970 UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Cultural Property. Moreover, it provides a compromise on the Salvage Law and Law of Finds. Most importantly, the 2001 Convention creates a framework for cooperation among States Parties.
To promote the 2001 Convention, UNESCO has embarked on initiatives focused on improving the legal protection of underwater cultural heritage, building capacity in underwater archaeology and raising public awareness of underwater cultural heritage. This paper will discuss briefly the evolution of the 2001 Convention, the legal issues and protection regimes offered by the 2001 Convention, the advantages of ratification and activities initiated in the Asia/Pacific region to promote the Convention.
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