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https://theconversation.com/underwater-cultural-heritage-why-were-studying-orphaned-objects-to-work-out-which-shipwrecks-they-came-from-226322>
"A lot of the recent talk about maritime issues in Southeast Asia has focused
on issues such as security, the Blue Economy, law enforcement and climate
change. But there’s one maritime challenge that’s gone underdiscussed:
underwater heritage.
We are co-investigators on a research project called
Reuniting Cargoes:
Underwater Cultural Heritage of the Maritime Silk Route.
Since the 1960s, Southeast Asia has seen a big rise in both commercial and
illicit salvage of underwater cultural heritage. These items are often taken
from unprotected sites and sold through middlemen and auction houses to
collectors and museums. In this process, the connection to their original
locations is lost or obscured, diminishing their cultural and historical
significance.
This project aims to address that challenge by working out which object came
from what shipwreck, and how it came to be out of the water and in collections.
To do this, we need to figure out where an item originally came from by
applying the latest methods of archaeological science. Talking with local
communities and authorities is another important way of gathering information
about which shipwreck a particular object might have come from.
Learning more about and reconnecting items like this can change how communities
relate to them. It can enhance everyone’s understanding of these artefacts
beyond their commercial value."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
