Diving to a Flash of Education: Archaeological Tourism at Maritime Sites

Summary

Underwater archaeological sites around the world draw thousands of diving tourists lured by the excitement of shipwrecks and the beauty of the marine environment. Through scientific research and beguiling information, archaeologists have the opportunity to educate these visitors about the history of the sites and, perhaps more importantly, about the need for preservation. Effective interpretation leads to appreciation of submerged cultural sites as links to our past, rather than simply as mines of "treasure" to be salvaged for personal gain. This paper describes a variety of interpreted maritime sites to show how archaeological tourism results in changed mindsets, engaged emotions, and informed visitors.

SAA 2015 abstracts made available in tDAR courtesy of the Society for American Archaeology and Center for Digital Antiquity Collaborative Program to improve digital data in archaeology. If you are the author of this presentation you may upload your paper, poster, presentation, or associated data (up to 3 files/30MB) for free. Please visit http://www.tdar.org/SAA2015 for instructions and more information.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)   •
• Archaeology and Tourism

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