-
Greece’s Underwater Archaeology Artefacts Threatened by Scuba Divers
Greece’s Underwater Archaeology Artefacts Threatened by Scuba Divers
Greece’s Underwater Archaeology Artefacts Threatened by Scuba Divers24 February 2009 | A new law giving scuba divers access to much of Greece’s coastline may, according to experts, cause priceless antiquities to fall in the hands of looters.
The new law, implemented in 2007 and aimed at promoting tourism, opens the majority of Greece’s 15,000-kilometre coastline, with the exception of around 100 known archaeological sites.
According to an older law on antiquities from 1932, all artefacts – whether discovered on land or in the sea, belong to the state. The law, however, does not regulate scuba diving, as it only began to be practiced in the 1940s.
“The future of archaeology in this part of the world is in the sea,” marine archaeologist Harry Tzalas told international media. “This [new] law is very dangerous, it opens the way to the looting of antiquities from the seabed which we don’t even know exist.”
Archaeologists say that thousands of shipwrecks dating from Classical, Hellenic, Roman, Byzantine and early modern times and their priceless cargoes of coins, ingots, weapons and gold, are lying on the beds of Greece’s seas.
As statues on land tended to be destroyed or melted down for coins or weapons, many museums’ ancient collections boast significant underwater finds. For example, most of the world-famous bronzes in Greece’s National Archaeological Museum were salvaged from the sea.
And while archaeologists and ecologists want the new law revoked, tour companies and websites are advertising the underwater treasures waiting to be discovered. A US-based diving company has reportedly published on its website a list of ancient artefacts discovered by divers, including sculptures, jewellery, warrior helmets, Phoenician beads, vases, and a variety of personal items reflecting life in the region in ancient times, from oil lamps to medical supplies.
“The risk is that Greece will become like Italy, where there is nothing left above 70 meters (underwater),” Shelley Wachsmann, professor of marine archaeology at Texas A&M University, who opposes the law, told media.
Many wrecks already discovered, including sites off the Aegean island of Kalymnos, have not been excavated because of lack of funds, leaving them prey to looters. Excavations can be ruined easily by divers’ taking away even mundane items such as amphorae that shed light on everyday life, archaeologists say.
bron: Balkan Travellers – Greece?s Underwater Archaeology Artefacts Threatened by Scuba Divers
-
4 Reacties
-
Re: Greece’s Underwater Archaeology Artefacts Threatened by Scuba Divers
Greek sea treasures at risk from scuba looters
Posted Mon Feb 23, 2009 8:38pm AEDT
Updated Mon Feb 23, 2009 8:41pm AEDTA corroded mechanism recovered by sponge divers from a sunken wreck near the Greek island of Antikythera in 1902 changed the study of the ancient world forever.
The Antikythera Mechanism, a system of bronze gears from the 2nd century BC, was used to calculate the date of the Olympic Games based on the summer solstice.
Its mechanical complexity was unequalled for 1,000 years, until the cathedral clocks of the Middle Ages.
Archaeologists believe hundreds more wrecks beneath the eastern Mediterranean may contain treasures, but a new law opening Greece’s coastline to scuba diving has experts worried that priceless artefacts could disappear into the hands of treasure hunters.
“The future of archaeology in this part of the world is in the sea,” said marine archaeologist Harry Tzalas.
“This law is very dangerous, it opens the way to the looting of antiquities from the seabed, which we don’t even know exist.”
Greece’s 1932 antiquities law says all artefacts on land and in the sea belong to the state, but it does not regulate scuba diving, developed in the 1940s by Frenchman Jacques Cousteau.
A new law implemented in 2007 and designed to promote tourism opens most of Greece’s 15,000km coastline to scuba divers, except for about 100 known archaeological sites.
Greece’s archaeologists’ union and two ecological societies have appealed for the law to be rescinded.
Meanwhile, some tour companies are luring tourists with the promise of ancient artefacts.
“Scuba diving in Greece is permitted everywhere … Ideal for today’s treasure hunter,” says the website Scuba diving in Greece: discover the underwater glories of Greece.
The director of antiquities at the Culture Ministry, Katerina Dellaporta, says metal detectors and bathyspheres allow treasure hunters to find artefacts with ease in the Adriatic and Aegean.
“It’s good to have tourism, but we must protect antiquities,” she said.
“Not every diver is an illegal trafficker… but we need to ensure these treasures remain for future generations.”
[I]The 5th Century bronze statue of Poseidon now stands in Greece’s National Archaeological Museum after being salvaged from the sea. (Reuters: John Kolesidis)
[/I]A vast museum
Most of the world-famous bronzes in Greece’s National Archaeological Museum, such as the 5th-century BC statue of Poseidon hurling his trident found off Cape Artemision, were salvaged from the sea.
Statues on land tended to be destroyed or melted down for coins or weapons.
Some were found in shallow-water shipwrecks like the one off Antikythera, believed to be a 1st century BC Roman ship carrying a haul of ancient Greek art back to Italy.
Other precious statues were dredged from the deep ocean in fishermen’s nets.
Greece offers handsome rewards to prevent relics falling into private hands.
It paid 440,000 euros ($872,000) to a fisherman for a female torso off the island of Kalymnos in 2005.
“The sea is a vast museum of shipwrecks… that is rewriting history as we know it,” said Shelley Wachsmann, professor of marine archaeology at Texas A and M university, who opposes the law.
“The risk is that Greece will become like Italy, where there is nothing left above 70 metres [underwater],” he said.
Divers can ruin an excavation by taking mundane items such as amphorae that shed light on everyday life, archaeologists say.
In deeper waters, the main threat to antiquities is trawler fishing, which disturbs sites and damages artefacts.
Archaeologists know of many treasures still lost at sea.
About 5,000 pieces from the collection of Luigi Palma di Cesnola – who helped found New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art – disappeared in a Mediterranean shipwreck in the 1870s.
For Tzalas, the “holy grail” is the lost city of Helike, which disappeared under the sea off western Greece one night during an earthquake in 373 BC.
A wreck from Crete’s Minoan civilisation would also provide a first glimpse of the Bronze Age culture’s maritime activities.
Many wrecks already discovered, including sites off the Aegean island of Kalymnos, have not been excavated because of lack of funds, leaving them prey to looters.
“It’s not fair to tell the Greeks they have to use up their money protecting this, when it’s patrimony of the entire world,” said Mr Wachsmann.
“This is an international responsibility.”
– Reuters
bron:Greek sea treasures at risk from scuba looters – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
-
Re: Greece’s Underwater Archaeology Artefacts Threatened by Scuba Divers
zou natuurlijk wel jammer zijn als griekenland zijn kust weer dichtgooid voor de duikers. Heb er nog nooit gedoken maar lijkt me zeker een leuke bestemming voor een vakantie-tje
-
Re: Greece’s Underwater Archaeology Artefacts Threatened by Scuba Divers
PatrickJ;750302:
zou natuurlijk wel jammer zijn als griekenland zijn kust weer dichtgooid voor de duikers. Heb er nog nooit gedoken maar lijkt me zeker een leuke bestemming voor een vakantie-tjeHet zou natuurlijk jammer zijn als duikers zich tijdens een vakantie-tje zo gedragen dat de Griekse regering besluit duiken te verbieden……..:zip:
-
Re: Greece’s Underwater Archaeology Artefacts Threatened by Scuba Divers
“Scuba divers from all over the world have waited for the elimination of scuba diving bans throughout the Greek Seas. Finally, Scuba diving in Greece is permitted everywhere, including numerous underwater archeology sites ~ Ideal for today’s treasure hunter!” says the website Scuba diving in Greece: discover the underwater glories of Greece.
dit soort advertenties werken dan ook niet echt mee om de griekse kust open te houden voor duikers
