View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by CU Scholar Institutional Repository University of Colorado, Boulder CU Scholar Undergraduate Honors Theses Honors Program Spring 2015 Can Underwater Cultural Heritage Stay Afloat? Emily Haver
[email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://scholar.colorado.edu/honr_theses Part of the Admiralty Commons, and the Archaeological Anthropology Commons Recommended Citation Haver, Emily, "Can Underwater Cultural Heritage Stay Afloat?" (2015). Undergraduate Honors Theses. Paper 871. This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by Honors Program at CU Scholar. It has been accepted for inclusion in Undergraduate Honors Theses by an authorized administrator of CU Scholar. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. Can Underwater Cultural Heritage Stay Afloat? A Critical Review of Treasure Hunting in Underwater Archaeology and Proposed Solutions Emily Haver April 6, 2015 Advisor and Council Representative Doug Bamforth, Anthropology Committee Members Patty Nelson-Limerick, History Payson Sheets, Anthropology 1 Abstract: Underwater treasure hunting is a rampant and concerning problem for marine archaeology and the future of underwater cultural heritage. Professional and small-time operations survey the ocean floors for valuable historical artifacts which they proceed to collect with little to no understanding of archaeological methods or caution for preservation of context. The artifacts they take often end up in a private collection, sold or given to investors, and dispersed throughout the world. In this way information is lost, history is not preserved and our common cultural heritage is destroyed. The archaeological community highly condemns association with underwater treasure hunters and salvage companies and for understandable reasons.