Underwater Cultural Heritage Law: Looking Back, Looking Forward

Summary

The law protecting and managing underwater cultural heritage (UCH) is relatively new and has largely been developed over the past 50 years.  This presentation will look back at the threats to UCH from treasure hunting and provide an overview of the laws that have been applied and developed to address that threat as well as from other activities that may inadvertently effect or harm UCH, such as fishing, the laying of submarine cables and energy development.  Special attention will be given to the use of the National Historic Preservation Act in protecting UCH in the United States and its potential use for protecting UCH outside of the United States.  After identifying gaps in current international and U.S. law, the look forward will include recommendations on law and policy to address those gaps.  

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• The National Historic Preservation Act at 50: Looking Back, Looking Forward   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2016

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Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 748