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Abstract
Underwater cultural heritage is an old subject, yet there are still many challenges for museums in conducting best practices for dealing with collections from underwater. Museums in the United States (US) face difficulties due to conflicts between national policies and the ethics recommended by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the International Council of Museums. To raise awareness of this critical issue in the US museum community, this research reviews the impacts of the related national policies, as well as the 2001 UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage, identifies the hardships for the museums, and recommends the role of service organizations to provide future direction.
Notes on contributor
Hyojung Cho is currently an Associate Professor in the Museum Science and Heritage Management program in the Texas Tech University. She holds an M.A. in Museum Science from The George Washington University and Ph.D. in Arts Administration, Education and Policy from the Ohio State University, specializing in heritage conservation. Her academic interest is to investigate the use of heritage resources for today's purposes, including ways to safeguard them. She also wishes to communicate, learn, and cooperate with diverse players beyond the boundaries of academia and the field of heritage.
Notes
1. The AAM, formerly the American Association of Museums, is the largest museum association in the US and has promoted advocacy and excellence in the museum community since 1906.
2. Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. 2011. http://floridakeys.noaa.gov/explore.html?s=explore (March 20, 2012).
3. Mailboxing (the use of underwater explosives) and dusting (removing an accumulation of rubble and dust) are underwater excavation techniques, but the destructive use of these invasive tools by illegal looters is a serious problem. ‘Treasure Hunts Leave Their Mark,’ Associated Press, August 13, 1995. http://articles.latimes.com/print/1995-08-13/news/mn-34689_1_florida-keys (March 2012).
4. A service organization is a nonprofit or for-profit organization that serves its particular community or sector. For example, the National Endowment for the Arts (US) explains their role in arts and culture is ‘not to produce, present, or preserve [arts and culture] … but to help [organizations and professionals] do so… [by providing] information, opportunity to communicate, advocacy, public education, professional and volunteer training, and various forms of technical managerial, and support services' (Five year planning document: 1986–1990). The AAM and the Association of Art Museum Directors (AAMD) are two examples of service organizations in the museum community.
5. Section 3 of the statute defines ‘archaeological resources’ are ‘…No item shall be treated as an archaeological resource under regulations under this paragraph unless such item is at least 100 years of age.’
6. The NHPA of 1966 is the overarching major preservation policy in the US that created the National Register of Historic Places, has provided funding for preservation, and has formed the national preservation network at the federal, state, municipal, trial, and private levels.
7. The NPS is an agency of the Department of the Interior that manages the US National Park System and has grown as a cultural resources manager of the country, as it delegates the duties of the Secretary of the Interior concerning cultural and natural heritage.
8. The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) http://www.un.org/Depts/los/convention_agreements/texts/unclos/unclos_e.pdf.
9. Article 2 – Objectives and general principles.
10. Deep Sea Research restated in 1994 that their later fining was Brother Jonathan, not the wreck found in 1991.
11. FindLaw. 2012. DEEP SEA RESEARCH INC v. BROTHER JONATHAN http://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-9th-circuit/1206377.html (March 25, 2012).
12. California and State Lands Commission, Petitioners v. Deep Sea Research, Inc., et al. (9th Cir. 1998) www.law.cornell.edu/supct/pdf/96-1400P.ZO (March 25, 2012).
13. The international nautical mile of 1852 meters was defined by the First International Extraordinary Hydrographic Conference, Monaco in 1929 and was adapted to the US in 1954.
14. ‘Submerged lands’ is defined in the Submerged Lands Act as: ‘lands beneath navigable waters’ that are within the first three geographical miles from the coastline, with the exception of the Gulf of Mexico where it extends three marine leagues. (The Submerged Lands Act of 1953 (codified at 43 U.S.C. § 1301 et seq.), Section 2 (43 U.S.C. 1301)).
15. FindLaw. 2012. United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit. http://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-4th-circuit/1478049.html (March 24, 2012).
16. Coin Link, Wikileaks Reveals State Dept Deal with Spain in Black Swan Treasure Lawsuit. http://www.coinlink.com/News/world-coins/wikileaks-reveals-State-dept-deal-with-spain-in-black-swan-treasure-lawsuit/http://www.coinlink.com/News/world-coins/wikileaks-reveals-state-dept-deal-with-spain-in-black-swan-treasure-lawsuit/ (December 2010).
17. Article 2 – Objectives and general principles: 7. UCH shall not be commercially exploited.
18. Rules concerning activities directed at UCH. I. General principles. Rule 2. The commercial exploitation of UCH for trade or speculation or its irretrievable dispersal is fundamentally incompatible with the protection and proper management of UCH. UCH shall not be traded, sold, bought, or bartered as commercial goods.
19. ARPA: 16 USC § 470aa – Congressional findings and declaration of purpose.
20. NHPA: Section 1 (16 U.S.C. 470).
21. ARPA: 16 U.S.C. 470cc(b), Determinations by Federal land manager prerequisite to issuance of permit.
22. ARPA: 16 U.S.C. 470hh, Confidentiality of information concerning nature and location of archaeological resources.
23. ASA: 16 U.S.C. 470aa-470mm, Sections 4 and 6.
24. ASA: 43 U.S.C. 2103, Rights of access (C).