Protecting, Collecting, Owning, Sharing: Ethical Issues Related to Underwater Cultural Heritage

• In Event: Ethics in Practice: New Research on Prosecution, Environmental Decision-Making, and Cultural Preservation

Abstract

Conceptually, many individuals and various agencies agree that preserving underwater cultural heritage is important. However, consensus tends to end there. Defining the term, preserving sites and objects, legal frameworks guiding ownership, as well as obligations around shared heritage all raise specific and differing ethical concerns. UNESCO's definition of underwater cultural heritage from 2001 neglects to take into account more recent developments in technology and climate change. The same convention establishing that definition focused substantially on in situ preservation of underwater sites, but underwater environments can themselves cause damage to objects. Maritime laws vary considerably between jurisdictions, but laws of salvage and finds complicate ownership. With rising sea levels already impacting communities globally, the authority governing some cultural objects and sites will change from land law to maritime law. Societies must consider how the introduction of contemporary culture and jurisdictional changes will affect the people, places, and objects in these coastal areas and the protection of these areas and objects. This paper focuses on exploring the ethics involved in the above issues around the protection, collection, ownership, and sharing of underwater cultural heritage.

Author

• Kate Melody Burmon, Ronin Institute