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REPORTS:
CULTURE-PANAMA |
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Protecting
History Under Water
Pilar
Franco
MEXICO CITY, (Tierramérica) -
The remnants of the past that lie in
the depths of Panamanian waters are
now covered by a law that protects the
Central American nation's historic
heritage, a legal tool that recognises
the value of underwater archaeology --
and blocks the way of treasure
hunters.
Panama's Legislative Assembly
incorporated subaquatic treasures into
the category of national heritage in a
Jun. 30 decision. This was good news
for archaeologists who are keen on
studying the cultural wealth submerged
in the country's seas, lakes and
rivers.
The areas declared archaeological
sites cover 30,000 square km on the
ocean floor of the Pacific and
Atlantic within Panamanian territorial
waters. The now-protected area holds
vestiges of dozens of galleons of the
Spanish and Portuguese armadas from
the colonial era.
The new law annuls decrees that
allowed the government to negotiate
agreements with private companies to
recover the sea treasures, Carlos
Fitzgerald, director of historic
heritage at the National Institute of
Culture (INC), told Tierramérica.
Although the previous legislation did
prohibit artefact recovery permits
that ran counter to international
agreements on such matters, the
decrees that have now been overturned
had loopholes that benefited treasure
hunters, noted the official.
The search for and research of
cultural wealth under Panamanian
waters should be carried out only by
experts and for scientific means,
added Fitzgerald.
Panama is the only country that has
ratified the UNESCO (United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization) Convention on the
Protection of Underwater Cultural
Heritage, approved in 2001 and
requiring the adhesion of 19 other
countries to enter into force.
According to Pilar Luna, one of the
few subaquatic archaeologists in the
region, it is a major achievement that
at least one country has ratified the
convention in the two years since its
signing.
In the 23 years she has dedicated to
the field, particularly in Mexico,
which has more than 10,000 km of
coastline, the submerged historic
riches have revealed many secrets,
Luna told Tierramérica.
For example, an atlas that is being
drawn up for the study of natural
wells -- which are filled by springs
-- and submerged caves in the Yucatán
peninsula in southeast Mexico, home to
the Maya civilization, led to the
discovery of fossils of extinct
animals, like the mammoth, and
remnants of human activity from 10,000
years ago.
”On ocean beds there are innumerable
chapters to history that are waiting
to be told,” said Luna, assistant
director of underwater archaeology at
Mexico's National Institute of
Anthropology and History.
This field, which requires a
multidisciplinary approach, seeks to
uncover humanity's past through the
study of artefacts, determining who
used them, how, and whether the items
were lost or purposely discarded.
At a depth of 40 meters in a natural
well, or at 300 meters in a submerged
cave, archaeologist-divers face
difficult work conditions: they have
limited time to spend at the
underwater site, visibility is poor,
and they might be threatened by
dangerous animal species or water
currents.
In addition to relying on related
science fields, the
archaeologist-diver must undertake the
”adventure” carrying double tanks
of oxygen, lights, compass, pressure
gauge, measuring tape, and even
special paper and pencil to take notes
under water.
”And one of our principles is to
collect data on location without
excavating, which is usually
synonymous with destruction,” Luna
commented.
Currently, there are no underwater
archaeologists in Panama. But new
legislation has promoted the search
for financial resources to launch the
major project in the area: recover the
vestiges of what is thought to be one
of the caravels of the fourth and
final voyage of Christopher Columbus
to the Americas, said Fitzgerald.
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