Action To Assess Threats To Maritime Cultural Heritage Sitescapes

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "The Intersection Between Natural and Cultural Heritage and the Pressing Threats to Both", at the 2025 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

Maritime cultural heritage is under increasing threats from changes in the climate and the oceans. Many sites along the coastline and underwater are now being eroded and revealed after thousands of years. While this provides more information about our past it is also a direct indicator of change. Underwater, shipwrecks that have remained exposed on the seabed since their loss, are directly impacted by the environment. Like layers of paint on a canvas, benthic communities evolve to create new habitats, reflecting their surroundings and maritime health at each location. Every wreck holds an archive of data that accrued following creation of the site. UNESCO accredited NGO’s are now focusing attention on these sites by recording and cataloguing the condition of seabed communities along with archaeological remains and pollutants at wreck sites. The results are recoded in a database focused on informing the outcomes of the UN Decade of Ocean Science.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• The Intersection Between Natural and Cultural Heritage and the Pressing Threats to Both   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2025

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Nicole Haddow