The MarEA Project: A Methodology to Identify and Monitor Morocco’s At-risk Coastal Heritage

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "Methods for Monitoring Heritage at Risk Sites in a Rapidly Changing Environment", at the 2023 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

Throughout the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), natural and anthropogenic factors are impacting the coastal archaeological record. Documenting and monitoring the threats to these non-renewable Maritime Cultural Heritage (MCH) resources is an essential contribution to the management process. The Maritime Endangered Archaeology in the Middle East and North Africa Project (MarEA) demonstrates the potential of a multi-faceted methodology to identify changes in coastal landscapes and their impact on MCH, based on environmental and archaeological data, supplemented by historic and satellite imagery. Through the case-study of the long and dynamic Moroccan coastline, this paper presents the application of the MarEA methodology, highlighting its efficient approach that requires minimal person-power yet provides high-resolution data. The resulting analyses can assist managers with limited resources to establish baselines, monitor at-risk sites, and develop recommendations for future heritage management practices and research strategies for MCH resources regionally and nationally.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Methods for Monitoring Heritage at Risk Sites in a Rapidly Changing Environment   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2023

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Nicole Haddow