Shipwreck Artifacts or Sunken Treasure

[wreckvalle]

Modern Wreck Divers have been accused of pyracy because they plunder shipwrecks and recover artifacts from them. In reality they are actually saving these artifacts from the destructive forces of Mother Nature. Check out the nautical treasures that await scuba divers who explore sunken shipwrecks.

http://www.shipwreckexpo.com/shipwreckdivi...actrecovery.htm

[jessie k.]

Yes, they may be saving the artifacts themselves, but the information that could have been added to the historical record from the context of the artifacts is completely lost. Forever.

[wreckvalle]

Not so! It is the sport diver and the Treasure Hunter who have identified almost 99.9% of the wrecks off the US Coast. It is by ther efforts and artifact recovery (at no tax payer expense) that we have be able to research and learn the history of these vessels. Wreck divers and treasure hunters have always shared these artifacts to the public with displays and photographs in articles.

In my opinion its only the landlovers who thinks its safe to keep artifacts at the bottom of the sea. Mother Nature is very powerful and destroys and breaks down many shipwrecks even when in deep salt water. If the artifact is destroyed then what can we learn from it??

Capt. Dan

www.shipwreckexpo.com

[blackjohn]

Having just come off of a three month assignment with the Marine Sanctuaries Program... naaaa... never mind.

Honestly, I don't care who digs the stuff up and who gets to keep it. The thing that burns me is people not doing proper archaeological field work and people NOT SHARING THEIR FINDINGS! All that stuff that is recovered doesn't mean squat if it isn't freely shared with anyone!!!

Naaaa... never mind...

[jessie k.]

Exactly. If you are truly interested in the artifact's historical significance, as opposed to just monetary value, then it's exact location needs to be recorded, along with the exact location of the surrounding artifacts, even the type and color of soil surrounding it, etc. And other people need access to all of that information as well. They're truly treasures only when the information comes with them.

[The Doctor]

And no one is saying that artifacts should not be recovered. But when modern archaeological techniques are ignored in the recovery of artifacts, the line between preserving history and simple plundering has been crossed.