THE NEGATIVE IMPACT OF HUMAN ACTIVITIES ON UNDERWATER CULTURAL HERITAGE: CASE STUDIES FROM THE BULGARIAN BLACK SEA LITTORAL (original) (raw)
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Bulgarian Black Sea Deep Water Archaeology. - Pontica XLVII, 2014, 541-548
The exploration of cultural remains on the seabed has always been among the most fascinating topics in the mind of marine researchers. Nowadays a huge part of humanity cultural-historical heritage is focused there. The milestones of human history and development like displacement of people, recolonization of areas exempt of Pleistocene glaciers, the spread of agriculture during the Neolithic have occurred in places nowadays underwater. The shelf zone of the Black Sea is subject of intense economic activity which causes irreversible damage to cultural heritage. Working principles and criteria for discovery, study and preservation are in urgent need to be . The in situ conservation of underwater archaeological heritage is a highly stimulating subject for planning and experimenting new methods to open new possibilities for conservation, protection and scientific research.
Deep Sea Heritage: Is fishing the biggest threat to archaeology in the Black Sea
2018
The Black Sea is recognised by maritime archaeologists as perhaps the holy grail for underwater cultural heritage (UCH). Since prehistoric times, it has been at the heart of important communications networks. Due to the unique properties of the Black Sea, site preservation should theoretically be excellent and there is good reason to believe that many valuable ancient wrecks await discovery and documentation in deeper waters. However, the cultural heritage of the Black Sea is at greater risk than ever. Industrialisation of the fishing industry is having a devastating impact on ocean environments, with damage to UCH being recorded on every continent. Within the Black Sea, trawling operations are venturing into greater depths as near-shore stocks collapse. The damage inflicted by bottom trawling is in many ways analogous to that of ploughing on land; risk modelling and management of UCH may benefit from lessons already learned by trawling’s terrestrial cousin. Compounding these threats, recent advances in deep sea technology provide growing opportunities for salvage companies and treasure-hunters to exploit UCH. But what is the true extent of the issue and does the fishing industry really pose the biggest threat to the survival of the Black Sea’s cultural heritage?
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27th Assembly of Advanced Materials Congress, Symposium on Archaeology & Cultural Heritage, 11-14 August 2019, Stockholm, Sweden, Proceedings & Abstracts Book, 2019
Since Antiquity, when the Greek colonization of Pontus Euxinus, the Black Sea today, started (7 th century BC) this area was the playground of diverse human activities, among which the most important was the trading navigation. Most of the colonies and settlements founded were located along the coast and were connected to each other and also to the metropolis of origin mainly by nautical trade routes running along the shores. Over the centuries, even the millennia, navigation along these maritime routes has intensified and diversified, military confrontations have also taken place, all these leading to the accumulation of various shipwrecks on the seabed. Although the history of navigation and its associated activities along the western coast of the Black Sea is over 25 centuries old, paradoxically, the number of shipwrecks discovered until now, especially from the ancient and medieval periods, is unnaturally low. However, if such discoveries have been made in the Bulgarian waters (e.g. Batchavarov, 2014, Pachero-Ruiz et al., 2018), until recently no information regarding such findings made in Romanian waters was published. Recent findings of researches carried out during the few last years (e.g. Caraivan et al., 2015, Dimitriu et al., 2018), as well as recently published papers (e.g. Dobre, 2016), which synthesize multiple submarine archaeological discoveries made over the last decades in the Romanian Black Sea coastal waters provide clear information that is likely to invalidate this false impression. The recent synthesis of all available data and information regarding the geo-archaeological findings made in Romanian waters indicate the existence of over 120 shipwrecks, among which 14 belong to former wooden ships. One of the oldest is a medium size, late-Roman (2 nd century AD) wooden shipwreck, loaded with over 1000 amphorae, discovered nearshore Gura Portita resort, but clues regarding the presence of several other off the ancient harbors of Callatis and Tomis are also of great importance. A special interest is required by the ancient wooden ship discovered off Costinesti village, as well as that of late-Medieval age found nearshore Eforie Sud resort, which is responsible for the coin hoard that reveals its age as being the 17 th century AD. Among the other shipwrecks found until present, many are of ages of around 100 years, which according to the law, already make them part of the national cultural heritage.
Archaeological oceanography and environmental characterization of shipwrecks in the Black Sea
The August 2007 expedition to the Black Sea continued a multiyear project designed to locate and study ancient shipwrecks in deep water. The expedition revisited and investigated two shipwrecks, Sinop D (at 325 m depth off Sinop, Turkey) and Chersonesos A (at 135 m depth off Sevastopol, Ukraine). These wreck sites are good case studies for our research because they are located in different parts of the Black Sea, in anoxic and suboxic waters, respectively. Preliminary data reported here are from seawater samples taken from around the wrecks and a year-long collection of temperature, salinity, and pressure data. Trace-element data from the seawater samples are consistent with reported processes and values for the Black Sea. The oceanographic sensor data confi rm the stagnant nature of the anoxic water layer that has allowed for the high level of preservation of the Sinop D wreck site. We also discuss the design and placement of two sets of experiments left in situ to characterize the decay rates of common materials found on ancient shipwrecks, including wood and metal. By providing ways to understand the chemical and physical processes that characterize different parts of the Black Sea water column, these wrecks are important sites for (1) determining the preservation potentials of cultural materials in deep water, and (2) informing the design of methodologies necessary to conserve them.
Archaeologia Bulgarica, 2024
This article reports on the analysis of an archaeological artefact, recovered from the Urdoviza shipwreck, Kiten, Bulgaria, in 2022. The artefact is a 5.4 kg lead sounding weight discovered and recorded in situ on the vessel’s stern cabin floor. Archaeological and multidisciplinary evidence is discussed against comparable cases to assess newly revealed information on the artefact’s biography including its production, use and archaeological deposition within the broader framework of site formation processes of the Urdoviza shipwreck underwater archaeological site. The outcomes of the study reveal the high potential of the mixed methods approach to deliver valuable insights on the variety of events and environmental factors determining the condition of shallow-water shipwrecks and enhance our understanding of the nautical archaeology of the Western Black Sea.
The 2001 UNESCO Convention on the Protection of Underwater Cultural Heritage (UCH) indicates preservation in situ as a first option and encourages public access unless it is incompatible with protection and management. Protection methods address natural factors that include environmental conditions and microorganisms, and human impact, direct or indirect. Public access through the operation of diving parks might be incompatible with the material preservation of UCH because of exposure to these threats. Literature research from conservation's standpoint, indicates the following remarks to be taken into consideration in decision-making processes: a) exposure of wood and marble in the sea column is highly probable to lead to their deterioration, therefore, their reburial or covering should be implemented; b) informational preservation, physical or digital, is a valuable alternative way to communicate the content of a site, but does not constitute a conservation method; c) legislation and education are powerful tools for eliminating the human threat to UCH. This thesis concludes that the long-term effects of diving parks on the preservation of UCH can be beneficial as long as they operate according to these remarks and do not allow unsupervised public access and uncontrolled site conditions.
Deep Sea Research Part I: Oceanographic Research Papers, 2019
Between 2015 and 2017 the Black Sea Maritime Archaeology Project (Black Sea MAP) discovered and recorded 65 shipwreck sites dating from the 4 th Century BC to the 19 th Century AD in the Bulgarian Exclusive Economical Zone (EEZ). Using state-of-the-art remotely operated vehicles to survey the seabed, the team captured more than 250,000 high-definition (HD) photographs; hundreds of hours of ultra high-definition (UHD) video together with acoustic bathymetric, laser, side-scan sonar and seismic data. The wrecks were located in depths from 40 to 2,200 metres-those shipwrecks in the deeper range presented extraordinary archaeological preservation due to the Black Sea's anoxic conditions. This paper will introduce the range of deep-sea optic and acoustic survey techniques to accurately record and
Threats to Underwater Cultural Heritage from Existing and Future Human Activities
Blue Papers, 2023
Our ocean heritage (natural and cultural) is at risk from destructive human activities, including bottom trawling, deep seabed mining (DSM), and potentially polluting wrecks (PPWs). The stories of our societies and our ancestors are often connected with the ocean and captured on the seafloor as artifacts, shipwrecks and the remains of those lost or buried at sea. Previously, marine global heritage protection efforts have been largely focused on natural heritage. However, Underwater Cultural Heritage (UCH) is also ocean heritage and must be considered the same way. We must shine a light on UCH as heritage and insist that it be part of Marine Spatial Planning with integrated ocean and coastal management. Approaches include, but are not limited to, (1) Conducting baseline surveys to identify heritage that should be conserved and preserved for present and future generations; (2) Environmental assessments taking into account the impact of human activities on both natural and cultural heritage; (3) Measures to identify, avoid or minimize the adverse impacts; and (4) The application of a precautionary approach to trawling, DSM and salvage of PPWs, calling for a moratorium on these activities unless and until steps 1 – 3 have been accomplished, permits/other management controls are in place and significant natural and cultural sites have been designated as protected areas.