Underwater Cultural Heritage sites on the way to be listed as World Heritage: To ratify the 2001 Convention or not?

Summary

Since 2001 there has been a lot debate about ratifying the Convention on Protection of Underwater Cultural Heritage (UCH). Since the countries pioneering underwater archaeology have not yet ratified the Convention, thus the question rises that to what extent ratifying the 2001 Convention can be assisting the State Parties to enhance their UCH practices. New efforts at UNESCO aim at subscribing the best practices of underwater archaeological activities in the World Heritage List, which is considered a privilege for the State Parties. This paper aims at introducing the criteria which UNESCO considers for the best practices, and to present an evaluation of the best practices in the world, not only from the State Parties, but also from the countries which have not ratified the convention. A comparison analysis will take place among these practices based on the criteria for acceptable preservation and public presentation of UCH. The effect of joining the Convention in the present State Parties will be assessed. The paper will rise the question that if the new initiative at UNESCO regarding listing the best practices, will encourage other countries to join the 2001 Convention?

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Law and Order: Protecting, Studying and Sharing Underwater Cultural Heritage   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2014

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): SYM-72,08