Red tape has kept Charlie Shapiro, treasure hunter, away from the 224-year-old wreck of the Brederode, which is laden with crated-up porcelain, tin and gold from Indonesia and China.
Telegraph, by Fran Blandy in Koingnaas, 28 Sep 2009
Centuries-old trinkets from rusty buttons to gifts destined for kings take up a room in Charlie Shapiro's house - treasures from a lifetime spent combing the ocean floor for shipwrecks.
But the wreck diver's trove is incomplete, as one of his richest recent finds lies waiting in the deep fathoms of the ocean a decade after its discovery, at risk from pillagers.
Shapiro found the 224-year-old shipwreck of the Dutch Brederode 11 years ago, but a series of mishaps has left him still waiting for government to grant him a permit to excavate its 120 million-rand (£10.1 million) cargo.
"That wreck was my baby, that was my life's work," Shapiro says of the ship which has dominated three decades of his existence.
From combing archives in Europe and South Africa, to a 16-year search and against-the-odds discovery of a ship considered an amazingly well-preserved archaeological find, Shapiro's tale is literally of a treasure hunt.
Greed and disagreements broke up the group of salvors that he formed, and his permit to excavate the ship was lost in a whirl of law changes and a government moratorium on all permits, which has only recently been lifted.
Jonathan Sharfman, a maritime archeologist at the South African Heritage Resources Agency, told AFP that the Brederode, sunk in 1785, is a "completely unique kind of shipwreck. It has the potential to be really high profile".
This means that Shapiro is unlikely to get his permit without in-depth excavation and conservation plans for the ship, which is still laden with perfectly crated porcelain, tin and gold carried from Indonesia and China.
"We just want to ensure everybody is doing what they should do. We can't just allow it to be ripped out and sold," said Sharfman.
"It's a reasonably intact ship... it really is an amazing example. It presents a unique set of archaeological information."
The ship, which belonged to the Dutch East India Company, is one of an estimated 3,000 shipwrecks sunk by the forces around South Africa's unforgiving coastline, which have spawned legends of phantom ships around the treacherous Cape.
From the Shipwreck Coast on the west of the country all the way up to Namibia's Skeleton Coast, these waters have struck fear into the hearts of sailors and many have perished.
Through the damp mist, the famous sea phantom the Flying Dutchman has been seen from time to time, steered by a Captain van der Decken, cursed to sail the seas for eternity after he insisted on rounding the Cape in foul weather.
Some beached ships have become popular tourist attractions in places like the tiny Northern Cape mining town of Koingnaas, but those that sank are difficult to reach, making the South African coastline an underwater museum.
Shapiro and his company have excavated ships such as the British Birkenhead, which sunk in 1852 and which became famous for starting the tradition of allowing women and children to save themselves first.
A section of his home holds perfectly preserved porcelain plates, weapons and valuable statuettes destined for kings of Portugal, France and England as a gift from the king of Siam aboard the Portuguese ship Milagros in 1686.
From a hoard of bloated wine bottles, an old vintage soured by sea water, to scary-looking medical tools encrusted with rust, Shapiro feels the rich historical legacy of shipwrecks is better kept where people can see it.
The permit tussle is a result of the Unesco convention on underwater heritage, which prevents commercial exploitation of ships over 60 years old, and which South Africa's parliament has still not ratified.
"They want wrecks left in situ for future generations - what's wrong with our generation? Wrecks are not there forever," says Shapiro.
Now, he can only wait as his treasure lies on the ocean floor off the coast of Struisbaai, 220 kilometres (135 miles) from Cape Town, where he has already spotted people searching for the wreck site.
Setembro 29, 2009
Setembro 24, 2009
Diamond Shipwreck
National Geographic Magazine, October 2009
Shipwreck in the Forbidden Zone
Five centuries ago a ship loaded with gold wrecked off a beach laden with diamonds.
By Roff Smith
Photographs by Amy Toensing.
Art by Jon Foster
History rarely unfolds like a fable. But consider this: A 16th-century Portuguese trading vessel, carrying a fortune in gold and ivory and bound for a famed spice port on the coast of India, is blown far off course by a fierce storm while trying to round the southern tip of Africa. Days later, battered and broken, the ship founders on a mysterious, fogbound coast sprinkled with more than a hundred million carats of diamonds, a cruel mockery of the sailors' dreams of riches. None of the castaways ever return home.
This improbable yarn would have been lost forever had it not been for the astonishing discovery in April 2008 of a shipwreck in the beach sands of the Sperrgebiet—the fabulously rich and famously off -limits De Beers diamond-mining lease near the mouth of the Orange River on Namibia's southern coast. A company geologist working in mining area U-60 came across what at first he took to be a perfectly round half sphere of rock. Curious, he picked it up and immediately realized it was a copper ingot. A strange trident-shaped mark on its weathered surface turned out to be the hallmark of Anton Fugger, one of Renaissance Europe's wealthiest financiers. The ingot was the type traded for spices in the Indies in the first half of the 16th century.
Archaeologists would later find a staggering 22 tons of these ingots beneath the sand, as well as cannon and swords, ivory and astrolabes, muskets and chain mail—thousands of artifacts in all. And gold, of course, fistfuls of gold: more than 2,000 beautiful, heavy coins—mainly Spanish excelentes bearing the likenesses of Ferdinand and Isabella, but also a smattering of Venetian, Moorish, French, and other coinage, as well as exquisite portugueses with the coat of arms of King João III.
It is by far the oldest shipwreck ever found on the coast of sub-Saharan Africa, and the richest. Its dollar value is anyone's guess, but none of its treasures have fired the imaginations of the world's archaeologists as much as the wreck itself: a Portuguese East Indiaman from the 1530s, the heart of the age of discovery, with its cargo of treasure and trade goods intact, having lain untouched and unsuspected in these sands for nearly 500 years.
"This is a priceless opportunity," says Francisco Alves, the doyen of Portuguese maritime archaeologists and the head of nautical archaeology under the Ministry of Culture. "We know so little about these great old ships. This is only the second one ever excavated by archaeologists. All the others were plundered by treasure hunters."
Treasure hunters are never going to be a problem here, not in the middle of one of the world's most jealously guarded diamond mines, on a coast whose very name—Sperrgebiet—means "forbidden zone" in German. Far from plundering, officials at De Beers and in the Namibian government, who work the lease as a joint venture called Namdeb, suspended their operations around the wreck site, called in a team of archaeologists, and for a few gloriously diverting weeks mined history instead of diamonds.
It will take scholars years to study the wealth of material gleaned from the Diamond Shipwreck, as it has come to be called. "So much is unknown," says Filipe Vieira de Castro, the Portuguese-born coordinator of the nautical archaeology program at Texas A&M University. Castro has spent more than ten years studying Portuguese trading vessels, or naus, lately developing computer models based on the slender archaeological pickings available. "This wreck will give us new insights into everything from hull design, rigging, and how these ships evolved, to little day-to-day things such as how they cooked meals on board and what people brought with them on these great journeys."
Already, some inspired detective work among the rare manuscripts and royal archives in Lisbon has cobbled together enough bits and pieces to tell the tale of a long-forgotten voyage and a vanished ship that turned out to be as rich in irony and allegory as it was in gold.
The story begins on a fresh spring day in Lisbon—Friday, the seventh of March, 1533, to be exact—when the great naus of that year's India fleet sailed grandly down the Tagus River and out into the broad Atlantic, flags and pennants flying and colorful silks and velvets draped from their towering castles. These were the pride of Portugal, the space shuttles of their day, off on a 15-month odyssey to bring back a fortune in pepper and spices from distant continents. Goa, Cochin, Sofala, Mombasa, Zanzibar, Ternate: Storied places that once had been as remote as the stars were now familiar ports of call, part of the Portuguese vernacular, thanks to Portuguese ingenuity and cutting-edge technology.
The outbound ships that sailed down the Tagus River in 1533 were sturdy and capable; two of them were brand-new and owned by the king himself. One of these was the Bom Jesus—the Good Jesus—captained by one Dom Francisco de Noronha and carrying 300 or so sailors, soldiers, merchants, priests, nobles, and slaves.
PINNING A NAME and a story to an anonymous, five-centuries-old shipwreck found unexpectedly on a far-flung shore takes canny sleuthing and more than a little luck—particularly if it is thought likely to have been an early Portuguese wreck. Although the Spanish Empire left mountains of paperwork in its wake, a catastrophic earthquake, tsunami, and fire in November 1755 virtually wiped Lisbon off the map and sent the Casa da India, the building that housed the vast majority of precious maps, charts, and shipping records, tumbling into the Tagus River.
"That left a huge hole in our history," says Alexandre Monteiro, a maritime archaeologist and researcher who works with the Portuguese Ministry of Culture. "With no India archives left to peruse, one has to revert to other, more imaginative ways of finding information."
In this instance, a vital clue came from the coins found in abundance on the wreck—particularly those beautiful and rare portugueses of King João III. These were minted for only a few years, from 1525 to 1538, after which they were recalled, melted down, and never reissued. Finding so many sparkling new portugueses on the wreck is a strong indication that the ship sailed during this 13-year window in time. Moreover, the load of copper ingots suggests the ship was on its outward passage to India to buy spices rather than returning.
Although the complete Casa da India records are long gone, some tantalizing snippets remain in libraries and archives that survived the 1755 earthquake. Among these are the Relações das Armadas, the so-called narratives of the fleets. A thorough study of the most complete narratives shows that 21 ships were lost on the way to India between 1525 and 1600. Only one of these went down anywhere near Namibia: the Bom Jesus, which sailed in 1533 and was "lost on the turn of the Cape of Good Hope."
Another intriguing pointer to the Bom Jesus comes from a letter Monteiro unearthed in the royal archives. Dated February 13, 1533, it reveals that King João had just sent a knight to Seville to pick up 20,000 crusadoes' worth of gold from a consortium of businessmen who had invested in the fleet that was about to sail for India—the fleet that included the Bom Jesus. Archaeologists had been puzzled by the huge quantity of Spanish coins found among the wreckage—about 70 percent of the gold pieces were excelentes, unexpected for a Portuguese ship. "This letter would go a long way toward explaining that," says Monteiro. "Spanish investors, it seems, had an unusually large stake in the 1533 fleet."
A rare 16th-century tome called the Memória das Armadas even offers a tantalizing glimpse of the Bom Jesus. Issued as a commemorative volume, a sort of Renaissance-era coffee-table book, it contains illustrations of all the fleets that sailed for India each year after Vasco da Gama pioneered the route in 1497. Among the pictures for 1533 is a vignette of two rigged masts under full sail disappearing into the waves and the words "Bom Jesus" together with a simple epitaph: perdido—lost.
So what did happen? It seems that four months or so after its grand departure from Lisbon, the first fleet of 1533 was struck and scattered by a huge storm. Details are sketchy. An account of the voyage by Captain Dom João Pereira, the fleet's commander, has been lost. All that remains is a clerk's acknowledgement that the report was received and a mention that the Bom Jesus disappeared in wild weather somewhere off the cape. It is easy to envision what might have happened next: The storm-battered ship was caught up in the powerful winds and currents that surge along the southwest African coast and was driven helplessly northward for hundreds of miles. As the windswept scrub of the Namib Desert hove into view, the doomed nau struck an outcrop of rock about 150 yards from shore. The shuddering blow broke off a big chunk of the stern, spilling tons of copper ingots into the sea and sending the Bom Jesus to its grave.
FAST-FORWARD five centuries to a maritime archaeology site that feels slightly surreal. A knot of researchers in hats and sunscreen are excavating a sunken ship that rests some 20 feet below sea level, the Atlantic Ocean held back by a massive earthen retaining wall that leaks a bit along its base. Closed-circuit television cameras, set up around the perimeter of the site, monitor everyone's movements—a reminder that for all the excitement of the find, this is still a diamond mine. And a rich one, where loose diamonds could well be mingled in the sands the archaeologists are brushing away.
"If it hadn't been for those copper ingots weighing everything down, there would be nothing left here to find," says Bruno Werz, director of the Southern African Institute of Maritime Archaeology, who was called in from Cape Town to assist with the excavation. "Five centuries of storms and waves would have washed everything away."
Werz and a team of researchers have been poring over the wreckage, measuring, photographing, scanning the site millimeter by millimeter with a state-of-the-art, three-dimensional laser scanner. They are trying, among other things, to piece together the ship's final harrowing moments, which would not have been pretty—the mangled remains of the hull and forecastle and a tangle of sails, spars, and rigging sloshing about in the swell, drifting north with the current and probably breaking apart as it went. Mine workers found a huge wooden rigging block three miles farther up the coast.
And what of the people on board, Dom Francisco and the rest?
"A winter storm along this coast is no joke," says Dieter Noli, the mine's resident archaeologist, who has lived and worked along this stretch of the Namib Desert for more than ten years. "It would have been nasty, with winds of over 80 miles an hour and a huge breaking surf. Getting ashore would have been just about impossible. On the other hand, if the storm had blown itself out and the ship wallowed ashore on one of those quiet, fog-shrouded days we also get around here, well, now that opens up all kinds of interesting possibilities."
That may have happened. Although the discovery of human toe bones in a shoe found pinned beneath a mass of timbers indicates that at least one person did not survive, those were the only human remains recovered from the wreck. And few personal possessions were found among the artifacts. These facts lead archaeologists to believe that despite the breakup of the ship along the surf line, many if not most of those aboard made it to land.
And then what? This is one of the most inhospitable places on Earth, an uninhabited wasteland of sand and scrub stretching for hundreds of miles. It was winter. They were cold and wet, exhausted and bereft. There was no hope of rescue or a search party, for nobody in the outside world knew they were alive, let alone where to start looking. Nor was any ship likely to pass this way by chance; they were far off the trade routes. As for somehow getting back to Portugal—well, the crew might as well have been shipwrecked on Mars.
All the same, things needn't necessarily have ended badly for the castaways, according to Noli. The Orange River lay only 16 miles to the south of the wreck, a source of fresh water whose bloom they might have noticed as they drifted by its mouth. And there was plenty of food about: shellfish, seabird eggs, and loads of desert land snails.
What's more, the Portuguese could have met the local survival experts. Winter was the season when hunter-gatherers known today as Bushmen ventured north along this shore in hopes of finding the carcasses of the southern right whales that occasionally wash ashore here.
How the Portuguese fared in these encounters would have been up to them, says Noli. "If they had the wit to trade rather than try to take, there is no reason to believe everybody wouldn't get along. The few small bands of hunter-gatherers along the river had no population-resource pressures to contend with, and so no reason to be aggressive to the newcomers. On the contrary, a big, strapping Portuguese dom could well have been seen as an attractive prospect for a son-in-law."
Whatever their final fate, the survivors of the Bom Jesus had no inkling of the exquisite irony with which their prayers, uttered so long ago in Lisbon, had been answered. They'd set off on a great journey in search of riches, pledging altars and icons for favor and success. Now here they were, delivered onto a shore of unimaginable wealth—a 185-mile stretch of desert so fantastically rich in high-quality diamonds that in the early 1900s an explorer named Ernst Reuning made a wager with a companion about the amount of time it would take to fill a tin cup with gems found loose in the sand. The job took all of ten minutes.
For long ages the great river had been washing millions, even billions of diamonds down from deposits as far as 1,700 miles inland. Only the hardest, most brilliant, gem-quality stones, some weighing hundreds of carats, survived the journey. They spilled into the Atlantic at the river's mouth and were washed up the coast, borne by the same cold current that would one day sweep the Bom Jesus to its death.
Writer Roff Smith lives, and weathers storms, on the coast of England. Photographer Amy Toensing often covers remote outposts for National Geographic. Artist Jon Foster is best known for illustrating works of science fiction and fantasy.
Shipwreck in the Forbidden Zone
Five centuries ago a ship loaded with gold wrecked off a beach laden with diamonds.
By Roff Smith
Photographs by Amy Toensing.
Art by Jon Foster
History rarely unfolds like a fable. But consider this: A 16th-century Portuguese trading vessel, carrying a fortune in gold and ivory and bound for a famed spice port on the coast of India, is blown far off course by a fierce storm while trying to round the southern tip of Africa. Days later, battered and broken, the ship founders on a mysterious, fogbound coast sprinkled with more than a hundred million carats of diamonds, a cruel mockery of the sailors' dreams of riches. None of the castaways ever return home.
This improbable yarn would have been lost forever had it not been for the astonishing discovery in April 2008 of a shipwreck in the beach sands of the Sperrgebiet—the fabulously rich and famously off -limits De Beers diamond-mining lease near the mouth of the Orange River on Namibia's southern coast. A company geologist working in mining area U-60 came across what at first he took to be a perfectly round half sphere of rock. Curious, he picked it up and immediately realized it was a copper ingot. A strange trident-shaped mark on its weathered surface turned out to be the hallmark of Anton Fugger, one of Renaissance Europe's wealthiest financiers. The ingot was the type traded for spices in the Indies in the first half of the 16th century.
Archaeologists would later find a staggering 22 tons of these ingots beneath the sand, as well as cannon and swords, ivory and astrolabes, muskets and chain mail—thousands of artifacts in all. And gold, of course, fistfuls of gold: more than 2,000 beautiful, heavy coins—mainly Spanish excelentes bearing the likenesses of Ferdinand and Isabella, but also a smattering of Venetian, Moorish, French, and other coinage, as well as exquisite portugueses with the coat of arms of King João III.
It is by far the oldest shipwreck ever found on the coast of sub-Saharan Africa, and the richest. Its dollar value is anyone's guess, but none of its treasures have fired the imaginations of the world's archaeologists as much as the wreck itself: a Portuguese East Indiaman from the 1530s, the heart of the age of discovery, with its cargo of treasure and trade goods intact, having lain untouched and unsuspected in these sands for nearly 500 years.
"This is a priceless opportunity," says Francisco Alves, the doyen of Portuguese maritime archaeologists and the head of nautical archaeology under the Ministry of Culture. "We know so little about these great old ships. This is only the second one ever excavated by archaeologists. All the others were plundered by treasure hunters."
Treasure hunters are never going to be a problem here, not in the middle of one of the world's most jealously guarded diamond mines, on a coast whose very name—Sperrgebiet—means "forbidden zone" in German. Far from plundering, officials at De Beers and in the Namibian government, who work the lease as a joint venture called Namdeb, suspended their operations around the wreck site, called in a team of archaeologists, and for a few gloriously diverting weeks mined history instead of diamonds.
It will take scholars years to study the wealth of material gleaned from the Diamond Shipwreck, as it has come to be called. "So much is unknown," says Filipe Vieira de Castro, the Portuguese-born coordinator of the nautical archaeology program at Texas A&M University. Castro has spent more than ten years studying Portuguese trading vessels, or naus, lately developing computer models based on the slender archaeological pickings available. "This wreck will give us new insights into everything from hull design, rigging, and how these ships evolved, to little day-to-day things such as how they cooked meals on board and what people brought with them on these great journeys."
Already, some inspired detective work among the rare manuscripts and royal archives in Lisbon has cobbled together enough bits and pieces to tell the tale of a long-forgotten voyage and a vanished ship that turned out to be as rich in irony and allegory as it was in gold.
The story begins on a fresh spring day in Lisbon—Friday, the seventh of March, 1533, to be exact—when the great naus of that year's India fleet sailed grandly down the Tagus River and out into the broad Atlantic, flags and pennants flying and colorful silks and velvets draped from their towering castles. These were the pride of Portugal, the space shuttles of their day, off on a 15-month odyssey to bring back a fortune in pepper and spices from distant continents. Goa, Cochin, Sofala, Mombasa, Zanzibar, Ternate: Storied places that once had been as remote as the stars were now familiar ports of call, part of the Portuguese vernacular, thanks to Portuguese ingenuity and cutting-edge technology.
The outbound ships that sailed down the Tagus River in 1533 were sturdy and capable; two of them were brand-new and owned by the king himself. One of these was the Bom Jesus—the Good Jesus—captained by one Dom Francisco de Noronha and carrying 300 or so sailors, soldiers, merchants, priests, nobles, and slaves.
PINNING A NAME and a story to an anonymous, five-centuries-old shipwreck found unexpectedly on a far-flung shore takes canny sleuthing and more than a little luck—particularly if it is thought likely to have been an early Portuguese wreck. Although the Spanish Empire left mountains of paperwork in its wake, a catastrophic earthquake, tsunami, and fire in November 1755 virtually wiped Lisbon off the map and sent the Casa da India, the building that housed the vast majority of precious maps, charts, and shipping records, tumbling into the Tagus River.
"That left a huge hole in our history," says Alexandre Monteiro, a maritime archaeologist and researcher who works with the Portuguese Ministry of Culture. "With no India archives left to peruse, one has to revert to other, more imaginative ways of finding information."
In this instance, a vital clue came from the coins found in abundance on the wreck—particularly those beautiful and rare portugueses of King João III. These were minted for only a few years, from 1525 to 1538, after which they were recalled, melted down, and never reissued. Finding so many sparkling new portugueses on the wreck is a strong indication that the ship sailed during this 13-year window in time. Moreover, the load of copper ingots suggests the ship was on its outward passage to India to buy spices rather than returning.
Although the complete Casa da India records are long gone, some tantalizing snippets remain in libraries and archives that survived the 1755 earthquake. Among these are the Relações das Armadas, the so-called narratives of the fleets. A thorough study of the most complete narratives shows that 21 ships were lost on the way to India between 1525 and 1600. Only one of these went down anywhere near Namibia: the Bom Jesus, which sailed in 1533 and was "lost on the turn of the Cape of Good Hope."
Another intriguing pointer to the Bom Jesus comes from a letter Monteiro unearthed in the royal archives. Dated February 13, 1533, it reveals that King João had just sent a knight to Seville to pick up 20,000 crusadoes' worth of gold from a consortium of businessmen who had invested in the fleet that was about to sail for India—the fleet that included the Bom Jesus. Archaeologists had been puzzled by the huge quantity of Spanish coins found among the wreckage—about 70 percent of the gold pieces were excelentes, unexpected for a Portuguese ship. "This letter would go a long way toward explaining that," says Monteiro. "Spanish investors, it seems, had an unusually large stake in the 1533 fleet."
A rare 16th-century tome called the Memória das Armadas even offers a tantalizing glimpse of the Bom Jesus. Issued as a commemorative volume, a sort of Renaissance-era coffee-table book, it contains illustrations of all the fleets that sailed for India each year after Vasco da Gama pioneered the route in 1497. Among the pictures for 1533 is a vignette of two rigged masts under full sail disappearing into the waves and the words "Bom Jesus" together with a simple epitaph: perdido—lost.
So what did happen? It seems that four months or so after its grand departure from Lisbon, the first fleet of 1533 was struck and scattered by a huge storm. Details are sketchy. An account of the voyage by Captain Dom João Pereira, the fleet's commander, has been lost. All that remains is a clerk's acknowledgement that the report was received and a mention that the Bom Jesus disappeared in wild weather somewhere off the cape. It is easy to envision what might have happened next: The storm-battered ship was caught up in the powerful winds and currents that surge along the southwest African coast and was driven helplessly northward for hundreds of miles. As the windswept scrub of the Namib Desert hove into view, the doomed nau struck an outcrop of rock about 150 yards from shore. The shuddering blow broke off a big chunk of the stern, spilling tons of copper ingots into the sea and sending the Bom Jesus to its grave.
FAST-FORWARD five centuries to a maritime archaeology site that feels slightly surreal. A knot of researchers in hats and sunscreen are excavating a sunken ship that rests some 20 feet below sea level, the Atlantic Ocean held back by a massive earthen retaining wall that leaks a bit along its base. Closed-circuit television cameras, set up around the perimeter of the site, monitor everyone's movements—a reminder that for all the excitement of the find, this is still a diamond mine. And a rich one, where loose diamonds could well be mingled in the sands the archaeologists are brushing away.
"If it hadn't been for those copper ingots weighing everything down, there would be nothing left here to find," says Bruno Werz, director of the Southern African Institute of Maritime Archaeology, who was called in from Cape Town to assist with the excavation. "Five centuries of storms and waves would have washed everything away."
Werz and a team of researchers have been poring over the wreckage, measuring, photographing, scanning the site millimeter by millimeter with a state-of-the-art, three-dimensional laser scanner. They are trying, among other things, to piece together the ship's final harrowing moments, which would not have been pretty—the mangled remains of the hull and forecastle and a tangle of sails, spars, and rigging sloshing about in the swell, drifting north with the current and probably breaking apart as it went. Mine workers found a huge wooden rigging block three miles farther up the coast.
And what of the people on board, Dom Francisco and the rest?
"A winter storm along this coast is no joke," says Dieter Noli, the mine's resident archaeologist, who has lived and worked along this stretch of the Namib Desert for more than ten years. "It would have been nasty, with winds of over 80 miles an hour and a huge breaking surf. Getting ashore would have been just about impossible. On the other hand, if the storm had blown itself out and the ship wallowed ashore on one of those quiet, fog-shrouded days we also get around here, well, now that opens up all kinds of interesting possibilities."
That may have happened. Although the discovery of human toe bones in a shoe found pinned beneath a mass of timbers indicates that at least one person did not survive, those were the only human remains recovered from the wreck. And few personal possessions were found among the artifacts. These facts lead archaeologists to believe that despite the breakup of the ship along the surf line, many if not most of those aboard made it to land.
And then what? This is one of the most inhospitable places on Earth, an uninhabited wasteland of sand and scrub stretching for hundreds of miles. It was winter. They were cold and wet, exhausted and bereft. There was no hope of rescue or a search party, for nobody in the outside world knew they were alive, let alone where to start looking. Nor was any ship likely to pass this way by chance; they were far off the trade routes. As for somehow getting back to Portugal—well, the crew might as well have been shipwrecked on Mars.
All the same, things needn't necessarily have ended badly for the castaways, according to Noli. The Orange River lay only 16 miles to the south of the wreck, a source of fresh water whose bloom they might have noticed as they drifted by its mouth. And there was plenty of food about: shellfish, seabird eggs, and loads of desert land snails.
What's more, the Portuguese could have met the local survival experts. Winter was the season when hunter-gatherers known today as Bushmen ventured north along this shore in hopes of finding the carcasses of the southern right whales that occasionally wash ashore here.
How the Portuguese fared in these encounters would have been up to them, says Noli. "If they had the wit to trade rather than try to take, there is no reason to believe everybody wouldn't get along. The few small bands of hunter-gatherers along the river had no population-resource pressures to contend with, and so no reason to be aggressive to the newcomers. On the contrary, a big, strapping Portuguese dom could well have been seen as an attractive prospect for a son-in-law."
Whatever their final fate, the survivors of the Bom Jesus had no inkling of the exquisite irony with which their prayers, uttered so long ago in Lisbon, had been answered. They'd set off on a great journey in search of riches, pledging altars and icons for favor and success. Now here they were, delivered onto a shore of unimaginable wealth—a 185-mile stretch of desert so fantastically rich in high-quality diamonds that in the early 1900s an explorer named Ernst Reuning made a wager with a companion about the amount of time it would take to fill a tin cup with gems found loose in the sand. The job took all of ten minutes.
For long ages the great river had been washing millions, even billions of diamonds down from deposits as far as 1,700 miles inland. Only the hardest, most brilliant, gem-quality stones, some weighing hundreds of carats, survived the journey. They spilled into the Atlantic at the river's mouth and were washed up the coast, borne by the same cold current that would one day sweep the Bom Jesus to its death.
Writer Roff Smith lives, and weathers storms, on the coast of England. Photographer Amy Toensing often covers remote outposts for National Geographic. Artist Jon Foster is best known for illustrating works of science fiction and fantasy.
Maio 16, 2008
Adventurers will have chance to hunt for treasure from sunken 1715 Fleet
Anne Kazel-Wilcox holds a ballast rock from the 1715 Fleet. Such river rocks were loaded into the hold of the ships to balance them amidst rolling waves.
Adventurers will have chance to hunt for treasure from sunken 1715 Fleet
By ANNE KAZEL-WILCOX
Special to the Palm Beach Daily News, Wednesday, April 16, 2008
"There is something about a treasure that fastens itself upon a man's mind. He will pray and blaspheme and still persevere, and will curse the day he heard of it, and will let his last hour come upon him unawares, still believing he missed it only by a foot."
— JOSEPH CONRAD
I'm in just 20 feet of water with treasure diver Chas Francoviglia and our metal detector combing the sand for the riches of the deep, in this case a collection of Spanish galleons sunk in a brutal hurricane in 1715 off Sebastian.
Now known as the 1715 Fleet, the ships were laden with precious cargo of gold bars, jewels, tobacco, spices, indigo and more. But what Francoviglia and his captain, Greg Bounds, are after is the mother lode — 300 chests containing nearly 1 million silver coins, with an estimated value of $450 million, that have never been found.
The two treasure hunters believe they're hot on the trail, and I am one of the first mere mortals to be invited to be a "Treasure Hunter for a Day" — a new program that allows the average diver to partake in the search. If I find treasure, it won't be mine for the taking. I'll have to give it back, but I'll help write history. And in just my first dive, I feel like I do.
"It was all because of a woman," a guide at the McLarty Treasure Museum in Sebastian says of the incidents leading up to the wrecks of the 1715 Fleet.
King Philip of Spain married the Duchess of Parma, Italy, but she refused to consummate the marriage until an enormous dowry of gold and jewels was gifted to her. Between that demand and the king's coffers being depleted after years of wars with England, the king desperately needed the riches that had been accumulating on his behalf in South American and Mexico. Soon, nearly a dozen ships were laden with that cargo, the main two ships alone carrying 14 million coins.
The treasure fleet joined up in Havana and set sail early one July morning in 1715, aided by a gentle breeze guiding the ships toward the Florida Straits.
But there was a ferocious hurricane brewing. Days later it slammed the ships off the east coast of Florida, driving them on to the jagged reefs between Sebastian and Fort Pierce, the ships crushed like matchsticks with 1,000 passengers killed.
Wrote the surviving Admiral Salmon later in a letter, "Mountainous waves crashed over the bow and beat us till we were completely out of control. They told us it was called the Gulf of Florida, such a beautiful name for such wretchedness."
The king's men, privateers and pirates soon descended on the site in search of bounty. Some was recovered; most was claimed by the sea and then lay forgotten for more than 200 years.
Fast-forward to 2008. Six of the ships from the 1715 Fleet have been found, some in only 20 feet of water. The Mel Fisher family, renowned for its discovery of the Atocha shipwreck off Key West, holds the salvaging rights to the 1715 Fleet in conjunction with the state.
Bounds runs the key salvage operation to recover those treasures, Goldhound Treasure Divers, and beginning this spring is offering an unprecedented opportunity: Divers can be a treasure hunter for a day in search of the sunken riches or just come along for the adventure ride.
So here I am underwater, sifting sand in a huge hole that the Goldhound salvage boat has dug where ship remains were detected. It's an extremely methodical process, Bounds having mapped every spot that has been searched since modern digging began in the 1950s.
The captain first spent extended time with a magnetometer that seeks deviations in the magnetic field, detecting metal objects. The wood structures of the ships were long ago claimed by the sea.
Using those findings, combined with GPS systems, sonars and complex computer programs, Bounds mapped a "scatter trail" of smaller treasures that he believes will ultimately lead to the mother lode.
So all along that trail, Goldhound blows large holes in the sand, combing each for signs of treasure with metal detectors. And though I don't find emeralds on my first outing, I am nonetheless entirely satisfied.
I come away with a ballast rock from the 1715 Fleet. Such river rocks were loaded into the hold of the ships to balance them amidst rolling waves. As a fellow diver says to me, "No one's seen that rock in 300 years." If this stone could only talk, I think. I wonder if the hands that last held it were among the passengers that perished with the wrecks or a survivor left to tell the tale.
This day is just my first attempt to find treasure, but it won't be my last. As Bounds says, "It's not about being rich. It's about the adventure."
He tells me that long ago, Mel Fisher warned him that in a career if you score one or two finds, that's a lot. Bounds has already found much more, with one day in his treasure hunting life off the Florida Keys yielding a half a million dollars in riches, and he's consistently found treasures from the 1715 Fleet.
When I ask how long he'll search for the golden coins of the 1715 Fleet, he quickly says, "I'm going to search for treasure the rest of my life."
IF YOU GO
Goldhound Treasure Hunter for a Day rates are $299 for certified divers and $149 for observers. For more information, visit www.goldhoundtreasure
divers.com or call (772) 633-0728.
Goldhound Investors: The state of Florida receives the first 20 percent of all 1715 Fleet finds, after which treasures are split 50/50 between Goldhound Treasure Divers and Mel Fisher Enterprises. Goldhound accepts investments starting at $1,000 for a 1/10 of 1 percent share in its share of the year's finds; $8,500 for 1 percent share with unlimited treasure dives, space permitting.
Goldhound's salvage ship is docked at Captain Hiram's Resort, a Key West-style hotel, sandbar and marina along the waterfront in Sebastian. Visit www.hirams.com or call (772) 388-8588.
Photos by Kurt Bowen and Anne Kazel-Wilcox
Maio 09, 2008
Parecer sobre achados fortuitos (baía de Angra)
I
Em 6 de Abril de 2001 o 2º Comandante Local de Angra do Heroísmo da Polícia Marítima enviou ao Director Regional da Cultura um auto de notícia levantado na véspera face a declarações de dois indivíduos que se apresentavam como mergulhadores amadores, indicando um a profissão de segurança privado, outro a de monitor de natação. O auto menciona que, no decurso de um mergulho desportivo com garrafa, os declarantes teriam encontrado em quatro diferentes posições cujas coordenadas e profundidades se indicam :
1. Um navio de madeira de dimensões imprecisas, de que apenas uma pequena parte é visível, com grande quantidade de loiças e peças de metal em seu redor.
2. Uma grande quantidade de potes de barro, alguns aparentemente vidrados e loiça com decoração variada.
3. Pelo menos dois canhões.
4. Um navio de madeira aparentemente de grandes dimensões, com vestígios de loiça partida e madeiras à volta.
O auto tem ainda anexos cinco documentos, cada um deles intitulado «Achado fortuito / Auto de Notícia / Detecção visual durante mergulho desportivo com garrafa». Estes documentos identificam outros tantos achados, que assim parece não se confundirem com os quatro primeiros por terem diferente localização (em coordenadas e/ou em profundidade) e são os seguintes :
5. Um navio de madeira de grandes dimensões, com estrutura visível e lastro ao centro.
6. Um barco de madeira aberto.
7. Um conjunto de 30 a 32 âncoras de várias dimensões e formatos numa área circular com cerca de 250 metros de diâmetro.
8. Várias bolas aparentemente de ferro e vestígios de lastro.
9. Um navio de madeira com grandes dimensões e partido em duas partes.
Perante estes dados, a DRC mandou verificar os pretensos achados para fins de inventariação. Esta verificação ocorreu logo em 1 de Abril de 2001 e foi completada com outras efectuadas em 8 e 9 de Junho seguinte. Do respectivo relatório consta ter-se averiguado que os restos do navio de madeira (1) haviam sido já inventariados em 2001-04-01; que os potes de barro dispersos a uma profundidade de 34-40 metros (2) não foram encontrados, designadamente nas coordenadas indicadas no respectivo auto de notícia; que os dois canhões (3) também não apareceram; que o navio de madeira de grandes dimensões (4) correspondia ao «Angra A» localizado e estudado desde 1996, além de se confundir também com o achado constante de outros dois autos de notícia (5 e 9); que o barco de madeira (6) era um conjunto de pedras de lastro e madeiras; que o conjunto de âncoras (7) era de há muito conhecido, ao ponto de haver sido já alvo de um projecto científico em 1995; e que as bolas de ferro (8) não apareceram, nomeadamente no local indicado.
II
O mergulho amador estava proibido nas baías de Angra e do Fanal desde 20 de Abril de 1995. A proibição fizera-se sob a forma de edital, nos termos do artigo 6º e seu § único do Regulamento para o exercício do mergulho amador na área de jurisdição marítima, aprovado pelo decreto 48 365, de 2 de Maio de 1968.
Estamos porém em presumir que esta proibição estivesse esquecida da Capitania do Porto de Angra, pois de outra maneira não se compreende a nova proibição do mergulho amador nas mesmas duas baías, estabelecida nos mesmos termos da anterior por edital de 4 de Abril de 2001 e claramente reactiva à situação criada pela comunicação dos pretensos achados.
Seja como for, aquela proibição anterior estava vigente, como vigente se achava o artigo 26º do citado Regulamento para o exercício de mergulho amador, o qual prescreve que os mergulhadores amadores (...) deverão (...) verificar (...) se existe algum impedimento. Tomarão ainda o cuidado de se informarem de quaisquer avisos, proibições ou interdições, temporárias ou permanentes (...).
Os pretensos achadores não fizeram nada disto. O que não quer dizer que se achassem na ignorância da legislação que estabelece recompensas para os achadores e manda levantar autos de notícia relativamente aos achados.
O caso é tanto mais peculiar quanto é certo que a razão de ser da proibição estabelecida desde Abril de 1995 estava justamente em impedir que, fora das regras já estabelecidas para a pesquisa de bens no fundo daqueles duas baías, há muito conhecidas como cemitérios de navios, se desenvolvessem actividades clandestinas de pesquisa e eventual recolha de bens com valor, arqueológico ou não. É que justamente nesse ano ia alta a discussão sobre pesquisas, com ou sem concessão, de restos de navios perdidos, mormente no mar dos Açores e muito especificamente nas águas da ilha Terceira.
O artigo 28º do Regulamento citado estabelece que aos achados provenientes da prática de mergulho amador são aplicáveis as disposições legais a que estão sujeitos os achados no mar ou nas praias.
Adiante se verá que a lei, correctamente interpretada, não confere no caso concreto direito a qualquer compensação para o achador. Mas ainda que conferisse, haveria de pôr-se sempre uma questão prévia : os achadores não podem considerar-se mergulhadores amadores, com direito ao seu estatuto próprio – incluindo os direitos correlativos – pela razão simples de se acharem a praticar mergulho em circunstâncias ilícitas.
III
O já citado DL 164/97 (de 27/6) sobre o património submerso, pode levantar, como é natural, alguns problemas de aplicação. O seu artigo 12º prevê que, fora da pesquisa sistemática e licenciada, possa acontecer o achamento ou localização por acaso de bens com valor cultural. Estes achados fortuitos dão direito a uma recompensa para o achador.
O problema, como se está a ver, está na qualificação do achado como fortuito, isto é, acidental ou imprevisto – o que forçosamente implica que não tenha sido procurado... Para ser correcta, esta qualificação implica assim um autêntico processo de intenções, porque o elemento decisivo para se qualificar o achado assenta justamente no animus do achador antes e no momento desse mesmo achado.
Ora todos os fundos marinhos à roda da Terceira, incluindo, claro, os do porto de Angra, são de há muito conhecidos como jazidas de múltiplos navios perdidos. E mesmo quem não seja estudioso destas coisas não pode ignorar que pelo menos desde 1970 se movimentaram interesses no sentido de localizar restos de navios ali afundados e eventuais tesouros que ainda deles restassem. É público e notório que variados interesses pressionaram o poder político, tanto regional (com efeitos no decreto legislativo regional 30/83-A, de 28 de Outubro e no decreto regulamentar regional 1/96-A, de 14 de Janeiro – hoje declarados inconstitucionais) como o nacional (com efeitos, designadamente, nos decretos-lei 289/93, de 21 de Agosto, 85/94, de 30 de Março e na portaria 568/95, de 16 de Junho – todos por sinal revogados pelo DL 164/97). Tudo com largos reflexos na comunicação social.
Com um enquadramento destes, uma conclusão desde logo se impõe. E ela é de que quem chegar a quaisquer restos arqueológicos submersos na área do porto de Angra terá imediatamente contra si a presunção de que nada ali encontrará por acaso.
Tanto basta, a nosso juízo, para se não reconhecer qualquer direito dos pretensos achadores a uma recompensa.
À Administração regional compete, por força da lei 19/2000, de 10 de Agosto (ressalvada na sua vigência pelo nº 4 do artigo 114º da recente lei 107/2001, de 8 de Setembro) a adopção das medidas para a defesa do património cultural subaquático, designadamente nos termos do DL 167/97.
O entendimento que deixámos exposto conjugado com este enquadramento legal justifica que se não dê andamento a qualquer processo de avaliação para os fins previstos nos artigos 18º a 20 do referido DL 167/97.
IV
Pode perguntar-se se a Polícia Marítima de Angra do Heroísmo deveria ter lavrado o(s) auto(s) de achado fortuito, de acordo com o referido no artigo 13º do DL 167/97.
Não vemos inconveniente em que o tenha feito, que mais não fosse senão por uma medida cautelar e informativa.
Só que isso não é suficiente para constituir os pretensos achadores no direito à recompensa por achado fortuito o qual, repete-se, não existiu.
O que achamos, no caso concreto, é que a Polícia Marítima deveria até ter feito mais. Efectivamente, achando-se proibida desde 1995 a prática de mergulho amador nos fundos do porto de Angra, os achadores incorreram na violação do artigo 6º do Regulamento acima já citado. Isto implicava o desencadeamento do processo previsto nos artigos 36º e 37º do mesmo Regulamento. Processo este que segue hoje os trâmites estabelecidos pelo DL 17/91, de 10 de Janeiro.
Angra do Heroísmo, 4 de Outubro de 2001
Autor: Álvaro Monjardino Duarte Rego Pinheiro
Em 6 de Abril de 2001 o 2º Comandante Local de Angra do Heroísmo da Polícia Marítima enviou ao Director Regional da Cultura um auto de notícia levantado na véspera face a declarações de dois indivíduos que se apresentavam como mergulhadores amadores, indicando um a profissão de segurança privado, outro a de monitor de natação. O auto menciona que, no decurso de um mergulho desportivo com garrafa, os declarantes teriam encontrado em quatro diferentes posições cujas coordenadas e profundidades se indicam :
1. Um navio de madeira de dimensões imprecisas, de que apenas uma pequena parte é visível, com grande quantidade de loiças e peças de metal em seu redor.
2. Uma grande quantidade de potes de barro, alguns aparentemente vidrados e loiça com decoração variada.
3. Pelo menos dois canhões.
4. Um navio de madeira aparentemente de grandes dimensões, com vestígios de loiça partida e madeiras à volta.
O auto tem ainda anexos cinco documentos, cada um deles intitulado «Achado fortuito / Auto de Notícia / Detecção visual durante mergulho desportivo com garrafa». Estes documentos identificam outros tantos achados, que assim parece não se confundirem com os quatro primeiros por terem diferente localização (em coordenadas e/ou em profundidade) e são os seguintes :
5. Um navio de madeira de grandes dimensões, com estrutura visível e lastro ao centro.
6. Um barco de madeira aberto.
7. Um conjunto de 30 a 32 âncoras de várias dimensões e formatos numa área circular com cerca de 250 metros de diâmetro.
8. Várias bolas aparentemente de ferro e vestígios de lastro.
9. Um navio de madeira com grandes dimensões e partido em duas partes.
Perante estes dados, a DRC mandou verificar os pretensos achados para fins de inventariação. Esta verificação ocorreu logo em 1 de Abril de 2001 e foi completada com outras efectuadas em 8 e 9 de Junho seguinte. Do respectivo relatório consta ter-se averiguado que os restos do navio de madeira (1) haviam sido já inventariados em 2001-04-01; que os potes de barro dispersos a uma profundidade de 34-40 metros (2) não foram encontrados, designadamente nas coordenadas indicadas no respectivo auto de notícia; que os dois canhões (3) também não apareceram; que o navio de madeira de grandes dimensões (4) correspondia ao «Angra A» localizado e estudado desde 1996, além de se confundir também com o achado constante de outros dois autos de notícia (5 e 9); que o barco de madeira (6) era um conjunto de pedras de lastro e madeiras; que o conjunto de âncoras (7) era de há muito conhecido, ao ponto de haver sido já alvo de um projecto científico em 1995; e que as bolas de ferro (8) não apareceram, nomeadamente no local indicado.
II
O mergulho amador estava proibido nas baías de Angra e do Fanal desde 20 de Abril de 1995. A proibição fizera-se sob a forma de edital, nos termos do artigo 6º e seu § único do Regulamento para o exercício do mergulho amador na área de jurisdição marítima, aprovado pelo decreto 48 365, de 2 de Maio de 1968.
Estamos porém em presumir que esta proibição estivesse esquecida da Capitania do Porto de Angra, pois de outra maneira não se compreende a nova proibição do mergulho amador nas mesmas duas baías, estabelecida nos mesmos termos da anterior por edital de 4 de Abril de 2001 e claramente reactiva à situação criada pela comunicação dos pretensos achados.
Seja como for, aquela proibição anterior estava vigente, como vigente se achava o artigo 26º do citado Regulamento para o exercício de mergulho amador, o qual prescreve que os mergulhadores amadores (...) deverão (...) verificar (...) se existe algum impedimento. Tomarão ainda o cuidado de se informarem de quaisquer avisos, proibições ou interdições, temporárias ou permanentes (...).
Os pretensos achadores não fizeram nada disto. O que não quer dizer que se achassem na ignorância da legislação que estabelece recompensas para os achadores e manda levantar autos de notícia relativamente aos achados.
O caso é tanto mais peculiar quanto é certo que a razão de ser da proibição estabelecida desde Abril de 1995 estava justamente em impedir que, fora das regras já estabelecidas para a pesquisa de bens no fundo daqueles duas baías, há muito conhecidas como cemitérios de navios, se desenvolvessem actividades clandestinas de pesquisa e eventual recolha de bens com valor, arqueológico ou não. É que justamente nesse ano ia alta a discussão sobre pesquisas, com ou sem concessão, de restos de navios perdidos, mormente no mar dos Açores e muito especificamente nas águas da ilha Terceira.
O artigo 28º do Regulamento citado estabelece que aos achados provenientes da prática de mergulho amador são aplicáveis as disposições legais a que estão sujeitos os achados no mar ou nas praias.
Adiante se verá que a lei, correctamente interpretada, não confere no caso concreto direito a qualquer compensação para o achador. Mas ainda que conferisse, haveria de pôr-se sempre uma questão prévia : os achadores não podem considerar-se mergulhadores amadores, com direito ao seu estatuto próprio – incluindo os direitos correlativos – pela razão simples de se acharem a praticar mergulho em circunstâncias ilícitas.
III
O já citado DL 164/97 (de 27/6) sobre o património submerso, pode levantar, como é natural, alguns problemas de aplicação. O seu artigo 12º prevê que, fora da pesquisa sistemática e licenciada, possa acontecer o achamento ou localização por acaso de bens com valor cultural. Estes achados fortuitos dão direito a uma recompensa para o achador.
O problema, como se está a ver, está na qualificação do achado como fortuito, isto é, acidental ou imprevisto – o que forçosamente implica que não tenha sido procurado... Para ser correcta, esta qualificação implica assim um autêntico processo de intenções, porque o elemento decisivo para se qualificar o achado assenta justamente no animus do achador antes e no momento desse mesmo achado.
Ora todos os fundos marinhos à roda da Terceira, incluindo, claro, os do porto de Angra, são de há muito conhecidos como jazidas de múltiplos navios perdidos. E mesmo quem não seja estudioso destas coisas não pode ignorar que pelo menos desde 1970 se movimentaram interesses no sentido de localizar restos de navios ali afundados e eventuais tesouros que ainda deles restassem. É público e notório que variados interesses pressionaram o poder político, tanto regional (com efeitos no decreto legislativo regional 30/83-A, de 28 de Outubro e no decreto regulamentar regional 1/96-A, de 14 de Janeiro – hoje declarados inconstitucionais) como o nacional (com efeitos, designadamente, nos decretos-lei 289/93, de 21 de Agosto, 85/94, de 30 de Março e na portaria 568/95, de 16 de Junho – todos por sinal revogados pelo DL 164/97). Tudo com largos reflexos na comunicação social.
Com um enquadramento destes, uma conclusão desde logo se impõe. E ela é de que quem chegar a quaisquer restos arqueológicos submersos na área do porto de Angra terá imediatamente contra si a presunção de que nada ali encontrará por acaso.
Tanto basta, a nosso juízo, para se não reconhecer qualquer direito dos pretensos achadores a uma recompensa.
À Administração regional compete, por força da lei 19/2000, de 10 de Agosto (ressalvada na sua vigência pelo nº 4 do artigo 114º da recente lei 107/2001, de 8 de Setembro) a adopção das medidas para a defesa do património cultural subaquático, designadamente nos termos do DL 167/97.
O entendimento que deixámos exposto conjugado com este enquadramento legal justifica que se não dê andamento a qualquer processo de avaliação para os fins previstos nos artigos 18º a 20 do referido DL 167/97.
IV
Pode perguntar-se se a Polícia Marítima de Angra do Heroísmo deveria ter lavrado o(s) auto(s) de achado fortuito, de acordo com o referido no artigo 13º do DL 167/97.
Não vemos inconveniente em que o tenha feito, que mais não fosse senão por uma medida cautelar e informativa.
Só que isso não é suficiente para constituir os pretensos achadores no direito à recompensa por achado fortuito o qual, repete-se, não existiu.
O que achamos, no caso concreto, é que a Polícia Marítima deveria até ter feito mais. Efectivamente, achando-se proibida desde 1995 a prática de mergulho amador nos fundos do porto de Angra, os achadores incorreram na violação do artigo 6º do Regulamento acima já citado. Isto implicava o desencadeamento do processo previsto nos artigos 36º e 37º do mesmo Regulamento. Processo este que segue hoje os trâmites estabelecidos pelo DL 17/91, de 10 de Janeiro.
Angra do Heroísmo, 4 de Outubro de 2001
Autor: Álvaro Monjardino Duarte Rego Pinheiro
Janeiro 19, 2007
Culture Minister David Lammy acts to protect the wreck of 18th century merchant ship thought to be the Rooswijk
London, 18 January/GNN/
DEPARTMENT FOR CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT News Release (006\2007) issued by The Government News Network on 18 January 2007
Culture Minister David Lammy today took action to protect a wreck, believed to be that of the Dutch East India Company vessel Rooswijk, discovered in 2004 by divers in the Kellet Gut area of the Goodwin Sands, off the Kentcoast.
The Rooswijk was an armed merchant vessel which vanished in a storm in December 1739, one day out from Texel, a Dutch Coast Island, on her second voyage to the East Indies.
None of the 250 people aboard survived and there were no witnesses to her fate. David Lammy's decision to 'designate' the well preserved remains under the Protection of Wrecks Act 1973 follows a recommendation from English Heritage. The Order laid in Parliament will protect the newly discovered remains - and the 150m area around them - and will prevent accidental damage. David Lammy said: "Britain has a rich maritime heritage, as the Sea Britain celebrations in 2005 proved so successfully. International commerce is a major part of this heritage, not least for the cultural exchanges it has helped to promote."
The history of the Rooswijk is well documented and its wreck site has the potential to yield a wealth of information about trade between Europe and the East Indies in the early 18th century. It also provides a rare opportunity to gain insight into a period when English shipwrights were employed to standardise Dutch ship design. For these reasons, it is fitting that this site gains statutory protection.
Notes to Editors.
1. The Secretary of State has power under the Protection of Wrecks Act 1973 to designate wreck sites which she is satisfied ought to be protected from unauthorised interference on account of their archaeological, historical or artistic importance. Before making a designation order, the Secretary of State is required to consult with appropriate persons (unless she is satisfied that the order should be made as a matter of immediate urgency). Once designated, it is a criminal offence for a person to interfere with the site except under the authority of a licence.
2. Rooswijk will be the 59th historic wreck site designated under the Protection of Wrecks Act 1973 in UK territorial waters.
3. English Heritage is the Government's advisor on all aspects of the historic environment in England. The National Heritage Act (2002) enabled English Heritage to assume responsibilities for maritime archaeological sites of all types from low water out to the 12 nautical mile (nm) territorial limit around England. The 2002 Act also allows the Secretary of State for Culture,Media, and Sport to direct English Heritage to undertake functions relating to the Advisory Committee for Historic Wreck Sites and the Government's contract for archaeological services in support of the Protection of Wrecks Act 1973.Accordingly, English Heritage may defray or contribute towards the cost of the preservation and maintenance of any protected wreck
Culture Minister David Lammy today took action to protect a wreck, believed to be that of the Dutch East India Company vessel Rooswijk, discovered in 2004 by divers in the Kellet Gut area of the Goodwin Sands, off the Kentcoast.
The Rooswijk was an armed merchant vessel which vanished in a storm in December 1739, one day out from Texel, a Dutch Coast Island, on her second voyage to the East Indies.
None of the 250 people aboard survived and there were no witnesses to her fate. David Lammy's decision to 'designate' the well preserved remains under the Protection of Wrecks Act 1973 follows a recommendation from English Heritage. The Order laid in Parliament will protect the newly discovered remains - and the 150m area around them - and will prevent accidental damage. David Lammy said: "Britain has a rich maritime heritage, as the Sea Britain celebrations in 2005 proved so successfully. International commerce is a major part of this heritage, not least for the cultural exchanges it has helped to promote."
The history of the Rooswijk is well documented and its wreck site has the potential to yield a wealth of information about trade between Europe and the East Indies in the early 18th century. It also provides a rare opportunity to gain insight into a period when English shipwrights were employed to standardise Dutch ship design. For these reasons, it is fitting that this site gains statutory protection.
Notes to Editors.
1. The Secretary of State has power under the Protection of Wrecks Act 1973 to designate wreck sites which she is satisfied ought to be protected from unauthorised interference on account of their archaeological, historical or artistic importance. Before making a designation order, the Secretary of State is required to consult with appropriate persons (unless she is satisfied that the order should be made as a matter of immediate urgency). Once designated, it is a criminal offence for a person to interfere with the site except under the authority of a licence.
2. Rooswijk will be the 59th historic wreck site designated under the Protection of Wrecks Act 1973 in UK territorial waters.
3. English Heritage is the Government's advisor on all aspects of the historic environment in England. The National Heritage Act (2002) enabled English Heritage to assume responsibilities for maritime archaeological sites of all types from low water out to the 12 nautical mile (nm) territorial limit around England. The 2002 Act also allows the Secretary of State for Culture,Media, and Sport to direct English Heritage to undertake functions relating to the Advisory Committee for Historic Wreck Sites and the Government's contract for archaeological services in support of the Protection of Wrecks Act 1973.Accordingly, English Heritage may defray or contribute towards the cost of the preservation and maintenance of any protected wreck
Caravanserai unearthed in Khamir Port
From IRIB (Propaganda Minstry in Iran)
During their recent studies which revealed 182 historic evidence,experts of the Cultural Heritage and Tourism Department of Hormozgan province succeeded in discovering the biggest caravanserai of the province dating back to the Safavid dynastic era (1501-1736 AD).
Abbas Norouzi, archeologists in Cultural Heritage and Tourism Department of Hormozgan province told CHN that following the new discovery, studies came to an end in the southern Iranian port of Khamir.
"The discovered historic monuments in the area include a caravanserai, fortress, watchtower, defensive wall, cistern, religious centers and ancient mosques, all ranging in date from the Safavid to the Qajar dynastic era(1787-1921 AD)" said Norouzi.
According to Norouzi, covering an area of about 1600 square meters, the caravanserai of Parav Fortress belonging to the Safavid period is the most prominent discovery among the recent findings in Hormozgan province.
Evidence shows that the caravanserai had only one entrance and some porticos. There used to be two porches right next to the entrance gate, from which nothing has remained. Among 36 chambers this caravanserai once had, only 26 have remained to this date.
Experts also identified remaining evidence pointing to the existenc eof 10 other caravanserais around the center of Khamir Port in Hormozgan province, some of which used to be temporary dwellings.
A number of cemeteries, canals, and some water management structures such as irrigation channels have also been discovered during latest archeological excavations in Hormozgan province.
During their recent studies which revealed 182 historic evidence,experts of the Cultural Heritage and Tourism Department of Hormozgan province succeeded in discovering the biggest caravanserai of the province dating back to the Safavid dynastic era (1501-1736 AD).
Abbas Norouzi, archeologists in Cultural Heritage and Tourism Department of Hormozgan province told CHN that following the new discovery, studies came to an end in the southern Iranian port of Khamir.
"The discovered historic monuments in the area include a caravanserai, fortress, watchtower, defensive wall, cistern, religious centers and ancient mosques, all ranging in date from the Safavid to the Qajar dynastic era(1787-1921 AD)" said Norouzi.
According to Norouzi, covering an area of about 1600 square meters, the caravanserai of Parav Fortress belonging to the Safavid period is the most prominent discovery among the recent findings in Hormozgan province.
Evidence shows that the caravanserai had only one entrance and some porticos. There used to be two porches right next to the entrance gate, from which nothing has remained. Among 36 chambers this caravanserai once had, only 26 have remained to this date.
Experts also identified remaining evidence pointing to the existenc eof 10 other caravanserais around the center of Khamir Port in Hormozgan province, some of which used to be temporary dwellings.
A number of cemeteries, canals, and some water management structures such as irrigation channels have also been discovered during latest archeological excavations in Hormozgan province.
Março 02, 2006
O MAR GRECO-ROMANO
Congresso internacional
a realizar a 9 e 10 de Março de 2006
Integrado na Semana Cultural
da Universidade de Coimbra
PROGRAMA
Dia 09 de Março:
- 10,00 - Anfiteatro IV da Faculdade de Letras
· M. Manuel Martin-Bueno (Univ. Saragoça): La mar: un archivo bien protegido
· J. A. Cardoso Bernardes (Univ. Coimbra): O Reino de cristal, líquido e manso: derivas de utopia na épica de Camões
- 12,00 - Anfiteatro IV da Faculdade de Letras
· Ana Margarida Arruda (Univ. Lisboa) e Raquel Vilaça (Univ. Coimbra): O mar greco-romano antes de Gregos e Romanos
· Pierre Rouillard (CNRS-Paris): Les Phéniciens, entre terres et mer
- 14,30 - Anfiteatro IV da Faculdade de Letras
· Aires do Couto (Univ. Católica Portuguesa): O mar na comédia plautina
· Alfredo Valvo (Univ. Católica Sacro Cuore, Milão): I socii navales e l’affermarsi di Roma come potenza marítima
· Francisco Beltrán Lloris (Univ. Saragoça): Hispania y el mediterrâneo en los siglos II y I A. E.
- 16,30 - Anfiteatro IV da Faculdade de Letras
· Pascal Thiercy - D. Mathieu-Pavard (Univ. Brest): La bataille navale d’Aegitna. Première intervention des Romains en Gaule
· Francisca Chaves Tristán (Univ. Sevilha): Monedas Viajeras
· Maria de Fátima Silva (Univ. Coimbra): O mar como motivo de inspiração na literatura grega
Dia 10 de Março
- 09,30 - Instituto de Estudos Clássicos
· Delfim Leão (Univ. Coimbra): Dikai Emporikai: processos relativos a comerciantes marítimos na Grécia antiga
· J. Ribeiro Ferreira (Univ. Coimbra): O mar na poesia grega arcaica
· Concepción López (Univ. Granada): El mar como escenario poético en el Edipo Rey de Sófocles
- Instituto de Arqueologia
· José d'Encarnação (Univ. Coimbra): O mar na epigrafia da Lusitânia romana
· Luís S. Fernandes (Univ. Católica Portuguesa): O mar greco-romano na onomástica pessoal da Hispânia
· Vasco Gil Mantas (Univ. Coimbra): A representação de navios em mosaicos luso-romanos
· Jorge Russo (Grupo de Estudos e Pesquisas Subaquáticas - Peniche): A GEPS e a Universidade de Coimbra
- 11,30 - Anfiteatro IV da Faculdade de Letras
· Francisco Oliveira (Univ. Coimbra): Mar e mares em Plínio o Naturalista
· Antonio Sartori (Univ. Milão): Buscar o mar pela montanha
· Marleine Paula de Toledo (Univ. São Paulo): O mar de Ambrósio de Milão, O nascedouro de almas viventes
- 14,15 - Visita ao Criptopórtico de Aeminium
- 16,00 - Anfiteatro IV da Faculdade de Letras
· Arnaldo Espírito Santo (Univ. Lisboa): o Mediterrâneo nos roteiros medievais
· J. M. Azevedo Silva (Univ. Coimbra): As Ilhas Afortunadas e o Atlântico Greco-Romano na visão de Torriani
· Maria do Céu Z. Fialho (Univ. Coimbra): O mar na poesia portuguesa contemporânea
- INICIATIVA: Linha de Estudos Latinos da UI&D Estudos Clássicos e Humanísticos, com apoio do Centro de Estudos Arqueológicos das Universidades de Coimbra e Porto, dos Institutos de Arqueologia e de Estudos Clássicos da Faculdade de Letras da Universidade de Coimbra
- LOCAL DE REALIZAÇÃO: Faculdade de Letras: Anfiteatro IV, Instituto de Estudos Clássicos e Instituto de Arqueologia
- COMISSÃO ORGANIZADORA: Doutores Francisco de Oliveira e Raquel Vilaça
- INSCRIÇÕES a/c Drª Carla Rosa
Integrado na Semana Cultural
da Universidade de Coimbra
PROGRAMA
Dia 09 de Março:
- 10,00 - Anfiteatro IV da Faculdade de Letras
· M. Manuel Martin-Bueno (Univ. Saragoça): La mar: un archivo bien protegido
· J. A. Cardoso Bernardes (Univ. Coimbra): O Reino de cristal, líquido e manso: derivas de utopia na épica de Camões
- 12,00 - Anfiteatro IV da Faculdade de Letras
· Ana Margarida Arruda (Univ. Lisboa) e Raquel Vilaça (Univ. Coimbra): O mar greco-romano antes de Gregos e Romanos
· Pierre Rouillard (CNRS-Paris): Les Phéniciens, entre terres et mer
- 14,30 - Anfiteatro IV da Faculdade de Letras
· Aires do Couto (Univ. Católica Portuguesa): O mar na comédia plautina
· Alfredo Valvo (Univ. Católica Sacro Cuore, Milão): I socii navales e l’affermarsi di Roma come potenza marítima
· Francisco Beltrán Lloris (Univ. Saragoça): Hispania y el mediterrâneo en los siglos II y I A. E.
- 16,30 - Anfiteatro IV da Faculdade de Letras
· Pascal Thiercy - D. Mathieu-Pavard (Univ. Brest): La bataille navale d’Aegitna. Première intervention des Romains en Gaule
· Francisca Chaves Tristán (Univ. Sevilha): Monedas Viajeras
· Maria de Fátima Silva (Univ. Coimbra): O mar como motivo de inspiração na literatura grega
Dia 10 de Março
- 09,30 - Instituto de Estudos Clássicos
· Delfim Leão (Univ. Coimbra): Dikai Emporikai: processos relativos a comerciantes marítimos na Grécia antiga
· J. Ribeiro Ferreira (Univ. Coimbra): O mar na poesia grega arcaica
· Concepción López (Univ. Granada): El mar como escenario poético en el Edipo Rey de Sófocles
- Instituto de Arqueologia
· José d'Encarnação (Univ. Coimbra): O mar na epigrafia da Lusitânia romana
· Luís S. Fernandes (Univ. Católica Portuguesa): O mar greco-romano na onomástica pessoal da Hispânia
· Vasco Gil Mantas (Univ. Coimbra): A representação de navios em mosaicos luso-romanos
· Jorge Russo (Grupo de Estudos e Pesquisas Subaquáticas - Peniche): A GEPS e a Universidade de Coimbra
- 11,30 - Anfiteatro IV da Faculdade de Letras
· Francisco Oliveira (Univ. Coimbra): Mar e mares em Plínio o Naturalista
· Antonio Sartori (Univ. Milão): Buscar o mar pela montanha
· Marleine Paula de Toledo (Univ. São Paulo): O mar de Ambrósio de Milão, O nascedouro de almas viventes
- 14,15 - Visita ao Criptopórtico de Aeminium
- 16,00 - Anfiteatro IV da Faculdade de Letras
· Arnaldo Espírito Santo (Univ. Lisboa): o Mediterrâneo nos roteiros medievais
· J. M. Azevedo Silva (Univ. Coimbra): As Ilhas Afortunadas e o Atlântico Greco-Romano na visão de Torriani
· Maria do Céu Z. Fialho (Univ. Coimbra): O mar na poesia portuguesa contemporânea
- INICIATIVA: Linha de Estudos Latinos da UI&D Estudos Clássicos e Humanísticos, com apoio do Centro de Estudos Arqueológicos das Universidades de Coimbra e Porto, dos Institutos de Arqueologia e de Estudos Clássicos da Faculdade de Letras da Universidade de Coimbra
- LOCAL DE REALIZAÇÃO: Faculdade de Letras: Anfiteatro IV, Instituto de Estudos Clássicos e Instituto de Arqueologia
- COMISSÃO ORGANIZADORA: Doutores Francisco de Oliveira e Raquel Vilaça
- INSCRIÇÕES a/c Drª Carla Rosa
email. classic@fl.uc.pt
tel. 239859981; fax: 239410022; endereço:
Congresso Internacional “O Mar Greco-Romano”
Instituto de Estudos Clássicos
Faculdade de Letras
3004-530 COIMBRA
Congresso Internacional “O Mar Greco-Romano”
Instituto de Estudos Clássicos
Faculdade de Letras
3004-530 COIMBRA
Fevereiro 15, 2006
Scuba diving shipwreck looters stealing artifacts worth millions
CYBER DIVER News Network
by LAMAR BENNINGTON - CDNN Industry News Editor
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (13 Feb 2006) -- Following the lead of dive industry-endorsed scuba diving looters Leigh Bishop and Brad Sheard, criminal gangs are stealing artifacts worth millions of dollars from shipwrecks in Malaysian waters.
According to archaeologist Professor Nik Hassan, the area is rich with 'lost treasure' dating back to 500BC and artifacts from just one shipwreck can add up to $6.5 million, much of which shipwreck looters illegally sell via online auctions.
"They (the looters) are usually well-equipped with sophisticated tools to help them locate the wrecks and transport the artifacts, " said Dr. Hassan. "We cannot stop people from scuba diving. It is also not wrong for them to go looking for old shipwrecks. But it becomes illegal when they find an artifact and smuggle it out."
Despite 'take pictures, leave only bubbles' green-wash, a small but strident group of wreck diving looters steal artifacts from shipwrecks under the guise of 'archaeological exploration', and aggressively compete for bragging rights, product endorsements and profits from the sales of stolen artifacts that are now on a par with those from smuggling humans and drugs.
"The vast majority of the global scuba diving community opposes shipwreck looting and underwater grave robbing," said CDS President Evan T. Allard.
Partners in scuba diving crimes: Notorious scuba diving thieves Leigh Bishop and Brad Sheard. Net profits from the global trade in looted artifacts are now on a par with those from smuggling humans and drugs. Emboldened by the explosion of internet auction sites, an increasing number of looters are linking up with criminal gangs seeking to launder ill-gotten gains through the international market.
"For scuba divers, every shipwreck is an underwater museum to be fully protected for our children, our grandchildren and all future generations of divers who will dive deeper and longer thanks to ongoing improvements in diving technology ," Allard added. "It is absolutely imperative that we stop selfish looters like Leigh Bishop and Brad Sheard from exploiting and destroying sunken ships for their personal coffee table displays and under the table tax-free profits."
Fevereiro 11, 2006
COMUNICADO
Em 2002, Pedro Roseta, ministro do governo de Durão Barroso, anunciou a “fusão” do Instituto Português de Arqueologia (IPA) com o Instituto Português do Património Arquitectónico (IPPAR). Este processo arrastou-se penosamente por meses e anos, até que, em Julho de 2004, a então Ministra da Cultura, Maria João Bustorff, anuncia a decisão governamental de abandonar a medida de fusão entre os dois Institutos.
Vemos agora novamente recuperada esta ideia, inserida numa mega reestruturação da administração pública, acerca da qual vão surgindo, dia após dia, rumores veiculados pela comunicação social, em forte contraste com o silêncio da tutela. Esta situação reveste-se de maior perplexidade, pois não só o PS tinha concedido apoio inequívoco aos protestos da comunidade arqueológica em 2002, como o novo governo integra algumas das personalidades que explicitaram o seu apoio à manutenção da autonomia orgânica do IPA, entre os quais se conta a actual Ministra da Cultura, na altura exercendo as funções de deputada pelo Partido Socialista.
Parece certa, neste contexto, a perda da autonomia orgânica da arqueologia, sem que em momento algum tenha sido auscultada a comunidade arqueológica.
Por considerarmos que esta medida continua a encerrar todos os malefícios e problemas que motivaram a nossa mobilização em 2002 e também por, mais uma vez, não se detectar qualquer intenção de ter em conta os pontos de vista dos arqueólogos, previamente à concretização da reorganização do sector, vimos por este meio solicitar a colaboração dos órgãos de comunicação social, respeitando as opções de política editorial, na divulgação das nossas preocupações, que consideramos revestirem-se do maior interesse público.
· Uma vez mais esta proposta de reestruturação da gestão pública arqueológica não é precedida do devido debate, que envolva verdadeiramente os profissionais do sector (nem o Ministério da Cultura, nem a comissão de reestruturação do mesmo, conta, que se saiba com qualquer colaborador ou assessor da área da Arqueologia) ou as suas associações representativas.
· Consideramos que a atitude do actual Ministério da Cultura – como dos dois executivos anteriores, ao manterem por quatro anos a Arqueologia Nacional numa situação de total indefinição, de falta de orientação estratégica e de desinteresse notório – manifesta um desrespeito e desprezo pela Arqueologia e pelos Arqueólogos, para além de reflectir a irresponsabilidade dos dirigentes políticos para com um Bem que é Público.
· Aparentemente, pretende-se alterar a forma de gestão pública da Arqueologia, no sentido de retomar modelos passados de má memória e que tantos danos produziram nos vestígios arqueológicos nacionais.
· Consideramos que a “extinção” do IPA, poderá trazer sérias consequências para a crescente actividade arqueológica, que depende da acção reguladora e fiscalizadora deste Instituto.
· O IPA é um Instituto pouco burocrático, com orçamento reduzido e pouco pessoal, altamente qualificado e motivado; tem uma estrutura horizontal, não hierarquizada que funciona de forma eficaz utilizando abundantemente as novas tecnologias. Porquê destruir um organismo com estas características, pretendendo integrá-lo numa mega-estrutura, que só poderá potenciar todos os tão falados defeitos da nossa administração pública?
· A autonomia orgânica da Arqueologia no Ministério da Cultura é a única forma de conferir aos arqueólogos força legal e institucional para esgrimir com os agentes económica e socialmente mais poderosos.
· O funcionamento do IPA, baseado no princípio da Arqueologia Preventiva, é a única forma de impedir as situações de destruição de vestígios arqueológicos, sem o devido registo, tão frequentes no passado.
· O IPA, durante os seus 8 anos de existência, favoreceu a afirmação da arqueologia portuguesa no panorama internacional, sendo uma Instituição respeitada, destacando-se ao nível do Sistema de Informação e Gestão Arqueológica (Endovélico), o e–IPA (toda a infra-estrutura ligada às novas tecnologias da informação: o site, a Rede Digital nacional, etc.), a Biblioteca Arqueológica, a Política Editorial, o Parque Arqueológico do Vale do Côa, o Centro Nacional de Arte Rupestre, o Centro Nacional de Arqueologia Náutica e Subaquática e o Centro de Investigação em Paleoecologia Humana e Arqueociências.
Os trabalhadores do IPA pretendem, enquanto lhes for possível, persistir na defesa do Instituto, por imperativo de cidadania, e de ética profissional, como arqueólogos e como servidores do Estado, nomeadamente nos contactos com órgãos de soberania, partidos políticos, órgãos de comunicação social, etc.
Vemos agora novamente recuperada esta ideia, inserida numa mega reestruturação da administração pública, acerca da qual vão surgindo, dia após dia, rumores veiculados pela comunicação social, em forte contraste com o silêncio da tutela. Esta situação reveste-se de maior perplexidade, pois não só o PS tinha concedido apoio inequívoco aos protestos da comunidade arqueológica em 2002, como o novo governo integra algumas das personalidades que explicitaram o seu apoio à manutenção da autonomia orgânica do IPA, entre os quais se conta a actual Ministra da Cultura, na altura exercendo as funções de deputada pelo Partido Socialista.
Parece certa, neste contexto, a perda da autonomia orgânica da arqueologia, sem que em momento algum tenha sido auscultada a comunidade arqueológica.
Por considerarmos que esta medida continua a encerrar todos os malefícios e problemas que motivaram a nossa mobilização em 2002 e também por, mais uma vez, não se detectar qualquer intenção de ter em conta os pontos de vista dos arqueólogos, previamente à concretização da reorganização do sector, vimos por este meio solicitar a colaboração dos órgãos de comunicação social, respeitando as opções de política editorial, na divulgação das nossas preocupações, que consideramos revestirem-se do maior interesse público.
· Uma vez mais esta proposta de reestruturação da gestão pública arqueológica não é precedida do devido debate, que envolva verdadeiramente os profissionais do sector (nem o Ministério da Cultura, nem a comissão de reestruturação do mesmo, conta, que se saiba com qualquer colaborador ou assessor da área da Arqueologia) ou as suas associações representativas.
· Consideramos que a atitude do actual Ministério da Cultura – como dos dois executivos anteriores, ao manterem por quatro anos a Arqueologia Nacional numa situação de total indefinição, de falta de orientação estratégica e de desinteresse notório – manifesta um desrespeito e desprezo pela Arqueologia e pelos Arqueólogos, para além de reflectir a irresponsabilidade dos dirigentes políticos para com um Bem que é Público.
· Aparentemente, pretende-se alterar a forma de gestão pública da Arqueologia, no sentido de retomar modelos passados de má memória e que tantos danos produziram nos vestígios arqueológicos nacionais.
· Consideramos que a “extinção” do IPA, poderá trazer sérias consequências para a crescente actividade arqueológica, que depende da acção reguladora e fiscalizadora deste Instituto.
· O IPA é um Instituto pouco burocrático, com orçamento reduzido e pouco pessoal, altamente qualificado e motivado; tem uma estrutura horizontal, não hierarquizada que funciona de forma eficaz utilizando abundantemente as novas tecnologias. Porquê destruir um organismo com estas características, pretendendo integrá-lo numa mega-estrutura, que só poderá potenciar todos os tão falados defeitos da nossa administração pública?
· A autonomia orgânica da Arqueologia no Ministério da Cultura é a única forma de conferir aos arqueólogos força legal e institucional para esgrimir com os agentes económica e socialmente mais poderosos.
· O funcionamento do IPA, baseado no princípio da Arqueologia Preventiva, é a única forma de impedir as situações de destruição de vestígios arqueológicos, sem o devido registo, tão frequentes no passado.
· O IPA, durante os seus 8 anos de existência, favoreceu a afirmação da arqueologia portuguesa no panorama internacional, sendo uma Instituição respeitada, destacando-se ao nível do Sistema de Informação e Gestão Arqueológica (Endovélico), o e–IPA (toda a infra-estrutura ligada às novas tecnologias da informação: o site, a Rede Digital nacional, etc.), a Biblioteca Arqueológica, a Política Editorial, o Parque Arqueológico do Vale do Côa, o Centro Nacional de Arte Rupestre, o Centro Nacional de Arqueologia Náutica e Subaquática e o Centro de Investigação em Paleoecologia Humana e Arqueociências.
Os trabalhadores do IPA pretendem, enquanto lhes for possível, persistir na defesa do Instituto, por imperativo de cidadania, e de ética profissional, como arqueólogos e como servidores do Estado, nomeadamente nos contactos com órgãos de soberania, partidos políticos, órgãos de comunicação social, etc.
Fevereiro 07, 2006
Flor De La Mar : An Early Epilogue of the Lost Ship 1511 (Portuguese Documents On Malacca)
Article By: Mohd. Sherman b. Sauffi (Maritime Archaeology Museum)
The legend of the lost ship on the Portuguese fleet called Flor De La Mar (Flower Of The Seas) had been an agenda of story telling, speculations and assumptions for many years since her lost in December 1511. Lots of theories and speculations about her, that make her “A billion dollar baby”, some said that she lost or vanished on the unfaithful event, some said that she have been taken over and all the treasures are stolen, some says that she had been destroyed by rivals ships and most provocative some says that the ship was not lost and know whereabouts the ship but somehow until now, well 500 years later, it can never be found elsewhere and remains a mysteries.
Enjoy the silence? We are actually got away from our leagues ladies and gentlemen. Before we jump into conclusions about anything, there’s a good start we look at the early document of “Portuguese Document On Malacca 1509 until 1511”, collected, translated and annotated by the late M.J Pintado with National Archives of Malaysia in 1993. It is a “Long Term Project” which was started the ideas since 1974. Credits goes to all the personnel who work on the project especially Dato’ Zakiah Hanum Nor, Ex-Director General National Archive Malaysia.
The written historiography collections with importance which had information about Malacca, “Letters from Alfonso de Albuquerque” in 7 volumes and the six Chroniclers - Joao de Barros, Diogo do Couto, Fernao Lopes de Castanheda, Gaspar Correia, Damiao de Goes and Manuel de Faria e Sousa. The document itself had information about what really happen to the ship Flor de La Mar.
On the Document 2 (1511), Portuguese Republic Ministry of Colonies Asia Joao de Barros, Chapter II, “What Alfonso went through along the route that he took fom Cochin to the island of Sumatra, where he was visited by the King of Pedir and Pasai and what else he did up to the time he arrived in Malacca”, Document no. 13 noted “ …together with other jewellery taken as spoils from Malacca and put on aboard the galleon Flor de La Mar, as we shall further on”.
The unfortunate event that bring Flor de La Mar to bottom of the sea stated on the Book Seven Of The Second Decade of Asia by Joao de Barros, “The Achievements of the Potuguese in the exploration and conquests in the lands and seas of the east, after Alfonso de Albuquerque’s departure from Malacca to his entry into the red sea” Document no. 224, “ Above all they had to brave the fury of the storms at sea and the danger of the sandbanks near the coasts….”, Document no.225, “The truth of this we are going to see in the notable example of Alfonso de Albuquerque, who left Malacca with his galleons filled with trophies. Sailed as far as the Kingdom of Aru at the end of the region called Timia Point in Sumatra. There at night his galleon was dashed against a hidden reef and broke up into two parts with the poop in one section and the prow in the other, because the ship was old and the seas heavy”.
Alfonso indeed inside the ship and his men unable to get aid from other ships that sails along with them. By the following morning, Pero de Alpoem, a captain from another ship called “Trindade”, gave aid for the shipwrecked men in a ship’s boat and save them from tragic fate. During the period of danger, Alfonso had many precious things in his ship but the only “precious things” he saved was a little girl, the daughter of one of his slaves, while standing on a raft he held the child in his arms – the only things that he saved from among the rich spoils he had obtain from Malacca which were in his galleon. The great loss of Alfonso which is refers to his honor on the ship were the two lions hollowed iron, fine piece of craftsmanship and artistry, which the emperor of China had sent as gift to the Sultan of Malacca.
Another interesting note on the event was the mutiny by the Javanese workers, on a Junk in the company of Jorges Nunes de Leao, the junk did not steer along the right course and entered the port of Aru, where the Javanese and the natives robbed it. Alfonso did go the wreck site with seeking help of Captain Jorge Bothello by using a ship Carravel type and enquire the natives who dived for pearls to dive the wreck site. However, the natives near the coastal area of Pasai might have robbed most of the cargo.
There were more than 10 ships responsible on the Malacca invasion campaign by the Portuguese in 1511, to name few, Flor de La Mar, Trindade, Anunciada, Santo Antonio, Santa Cruz, Bretao, Taforeia, Enxobregas, Cambaia, Santa Caterina, Joia, Santiago and Sao Joao. The Portuguese were the first pioneering Europeans to established empire in Southeast Asia by the invasion of Malacca , August 1511 througout 130 years before the Dutch did. Alfonso de Alburquerque died in 1515, where he left behind the legacy of navigations and established Portuguese maritime control from the Persian Gulf to Malacca, to the great enrichment of the monarchy.
However, some questionable speculations about The Flor de La Mar cargoes: where did it really go? Where all the treasures of Malacca Sultanate that had been robbed? If the ship were broke into two parts, why nowadays people claim that they knew and found the wreck?
If we calculate for 500 years including the changing of tides, currents and based on the unstable geographical of Sumatera, does the ship still there? Just for comparison, the Fort Santiago at Malacca A’ Famosa fortress if we look at the picture closely we sees that the sea is near the fort but 500 years later then compare the picture with the new land of Malacca, it is about 5 kilometers out from the cultural sites. Now look at the Sumatera coastal area and think again. More research need to be taken and document to be analyzed, considerations for regions political issues, economics and diplomacy. We need to take a deeper look to this point so that the cultural heritage of Malaysia, Indonesia and Portuguese will be preserved with proper research and a little bit of sincerity in doing it.
Phil-Sherman William @ Mohd. Sherman bin SauffiMaritime Archaeological Museum
Department Of Museums and Antiquities
Jalan Damansara
50566 Kuala Lumpur
MALAYSIA
Tel: 603 2282 6255 ext 228
Fax: 603 2284 9103
H/p: 6013 895 0198
The legend of the lost ship on the Portuguese fleet called Flor De La Mar (Flower Of The Seas) had been an agenda of story telling, speculations and assumptions for many years since her lost in December 1511. Lots of theories and speculations about her, that make her “A billion dollar baby”, some said that she lost or vanished on the unfaithful event, some said that she have been taken over and all the treasures are stolen, some says that she had been destroyed by rivals ships and most provocative some says that the ship was not lost and know whereabouts the ship but somehow until now, well 500 years later, it can never be found elsewhere and remains a mysteries.
Enjoy the silence? We are actually got away from our leagues ladies and gentlemen. Before we jump into conclusions about anything, there’s a good start we look at the early document of “Portuguese Document On Malacca 1509 until 1511”, collected, translated and annotated by the late M.J Pintado with National Archives of Malaysia in 1993. It is a “Long Term Project” which was started the ideas since 1974. Credits goes to all the personnel who work on the project especially Dato’ Zakiah Hanum Nor, Ex-Director General National Archive Malaysia.
The written historiography collections with importance which had information about Malacca, “Letters from Alfonso de Albuquerque” in 7 volumes and the six Chroniclers - Joao de Barros, Diogo do Couto, Fernao Lopes de Castanheda, Gaspar Correia, Damiao de Goes and Manuel de Faria e Sousa. The document itself had information about what really happen to the ship Flor de La Mar.
On the Document 2 (1511), Portuguese Republic Ministry of Colonies Asia Joao de Barros, Chapter II, “What Alfonso went through along the route that he took fom Cochin to the island of Sumatra, where he was visited by the King of Pedir and Pasai and what else he did up to the time he arrived in Malacca”, Document no. 13 noted “ …together with other jewellery taken as spoils from Malacca and put on aboard the galleon Flor de La Mar, as we shall further on”.
The unfortunate event that bring Flor de La Mar to bottom of the sea stated on the Book Seven Of The Second Decade of Asia by Joao de Barros, “The Achievements of the Potuguese in the exploration and conquests in the lands and seas of the east, after Alfonso de Albuquerque’s departure from Malacca to his entry into the red sea” Document no. 224, “ Above all they had to brave the fury of the storms at sea and the danger of the sandbanks near the coasts….”, Document no.225, “The truth of this we are going to see in the notable example of Alfonso de Albuquerque, who left Malacca with his galleons filled with trophies. Sailed as far as the Kingdom of Aru at the end of the region called Timia Point in Sumatra. There at night his galleon was dashed against a hidden reef and broke up into two parts with the poop in one section and the prow in the other, because the ship was old and the seas heavy”.
Alfonso indeed inside the ship and his men unable to get aid from other ships that sails along with them. By the following morning, Pero de Alpoem, a captain from another ship called “Trindade”, gave aid for the shipwrecked men in a ship’s boat and save them from tragic fate. During the period of danger, Alfonso had many precious things in his ship but the only “precious things” he saved was a little girl, the daughter of one of his slaves, while standing on a raft he held the child in his arms – the only things that he saved from among the rich spoils he had obtain from Malacca which were in his galleon. The great loss of Alfonso which is refers to his honor on the ship were the two lions hollowed iron, fine piece of craftsmanship and artistry, which the emperor of China had sent as gift to the Sultan of Malacca.
Another interesting note on the event was the mutiny by the Javanese workers, on a Junk in the company of Jorges Nunes de Leao, the junk did not steer along the right course and entered the port of Aru, where the Javanese and the natives robbed it. Alfonso did go the wreck site with seeking help of Captain Jorge Bothello by using a ship Carravel type and enquire the natives who dived for pearls to dive the wreck site. However, the natives near the coastal area of Pasai might have robbed most of the cargo.
There were more than 10 ships responsible on the Malacca invasion campaign by the Portuguese in 1511, to name few, Flor de La Mar, Trindade, Anunciada, Santo Antonio, Santa Cruz, Bretao, Taforeia, Enxobregas, Cambaia, Santa Caterina, Joia, Santiago and Sao Joao. The Portuguese were the first pioneering Europeans to established empire in Southeast Asia by the invasion of Malacca , August 1511 througout 130 years before the Dutch did. Alfonso de Alburquerque died in 1515, where he left behind the legacy of navigations and established Portuguese maritime control from the Persian Gulf to Malacca, to the great enrichment of the monarchy.
However, some questionable speculations about The Flor de La Mar cargoes: where did it really go? Where all the treasures of Malacca Sultanate that had been robbed? If the ship were broke into two parts, why nowadays people claim that they knew and found the wreck?
If we calculate for 500 years including the changing of tides, currents and based on the unstable geographical of Sumatera, does the ship still there? Just for comparison, the Fort Santiago at Malacca A’ Famosa fortress if we look at the picture closely we sees that the sea is near the fort but 500 years later then compare the picture with the new land of Malacca, it is about 5 kilometers out from the cultural sites. Now look at the Sumatera coastal area and think again. More research need to be taken and document to be analyzed, considerations for regions political issues, economics and diplomacy. We need to take a deeper look to this point so that the cultural heritage of Malaysia, Indonesia and Portuguese will be preserved with proper research and a little bit of sincerity in doing it.
Phil-Sherman William @ Mohd. Sherman bin SauffiMaritime Archaeological Museum
Department Of Museums and Antiquities
Jalan Damansara
50566 Kuala Lumpur
MALAYSIA
Tel: 603 2282 6255 ext 228
Fax: 603 2284 9103
H/p: 6013 895 0198
Janeiro 29, 2006
A Sunken Warship Sets Off a New Mediterranean Battle
The New Yok Times, January 28, 2006
By WILLIAM J. BROAD
What is probably the world's richest sunken treasure — the Sussex, a British warship that went to the bottom of the Mediterranean in 1694 with a cargo of coins now worth up to $4 billion — has become embroiled in a bitter diplomatic dispute that pits Spain against Britain, the United States and an American company that wants to salvage the wreck.
The conflict turns on arcane and often disputed aspects of international law that govern sovereign waters and the rights of shipwreck owners and finders.
Spain claims the waters, off the coast of Gibraltar. Britain claims the ship, says its decomposing hull rests in the high seas, and has struck a deal with the American company, Odyssey Marine Exploration Inc. of Tampa, Fla., to split the recovery's proceeds.
Last month, the company had its 250-foot ship lower a seven-ton robot with lights, cameras and flexible arms to begin an archaeological survey, the first step in recovery of the wreckage of the ship, which lies in waters a half-mile deep. The goal is to positively identify the wreck and look for the lost coins, which the company says are most likely gold, nine tons of it.
Spain, which approved the project in July 2005, has now reversed itself. That, company officials say, has started a diplomatic tussle and created dangerous conditions at sea as, because of the Spanish vilification of the project, flotillas of small ships have pulled close in protest.
"We have been very disappointed in the unprofessional and dangerous behavior that some of the local vessels have engaged in," said Greg Stemm, co-founder of Odyssey. "We are seeking legal redress to prevent this from happening in the future." The company, he added, is taking "every avenue available before someone is seriously hurt or worse."
Mr. Stemm added that for the last two weeks, "we have been front-page news everywhere in Spain almost every day." Until the most recent diplomatic incident, he said, "we kept a low profile" at the request of the involved governments.
The Spanish Embassy in Washington declined to comment, referring inquiries to a statement posted by the Spanish Foreign Ministry on its Web site. The statement said Odyssey must immediately suspend operations because it had failed to meet conditions set by Madrid.
The company said that on Thursday Spain went through diplomatic channels to ask Odyssey to suspend operations until the autonomous region of Andalusia, which surrounds Gibraltar and also claims the wreckage, can appoint an expert to observe recovery operations. Spain said Andalusia had not previously appointed an expert because it believed Odyssey was working without appropriate authorization.
Odyssey, and the State Department, say Spain is ignoring a history of agreements and understandings with the Tampa company.
The story began in 1694 as H.M.S. Sussex led a large fleet of English and allied ships into the Mediterranean to prosecute a war against French expansionism. The flagship, a new British warship of 80 guns and 500 men, reportedly carried a small fortune in treasure to buy the loyalty of the Duke of Savoy, a shaky ally.
But a storm hit the flotilla near the Strait of Gibraltar, and the Sussex went down. All but two men died.
From 1998 to 2001, Odyssey conducted four expeditions off Gibraltar and found what the British authorities believe to be the Sussex. The exploratory work was done with British approval, and the tentative find was announced in February 2002. Later that year, Odyssey signed an agreement with the British government to raise the treasure.
The partnership called for archaeological integrity and close attention to recovering not only coins but also such artifacts as the ship's tools, cannons and navigational gear, eventually for public display.
Odyssey says it worked with the American State Department to win Spanish approval of the project, doing so in July 2005. The company began work with its large recovery ship on Dec. 12.
At first, the archaeological survey to prepare the wreck for excavation went smoothly, Mr. Stemm said. But by early January, local Andalusians and regional officials had become hostile, with a rising clamor in the press and numerous incidents at sea.
On Jan. 11, the Guardia Civil, an Andalusian coastal vessel, approached the company's ship in a menacing fashion, Mr. Stemm said, adding, "It wasn't apparent if they were armed."
In a statement issued yesterday, the company said it had started work on the Sussex "in good faith" after the Spanish government assured it that the failure of Andalusia to appoint an expert to join the expedition would not be considered a failure of Odyssey to comply with the cooperative agreement.
"In addition," the company said, "assurances were provided to Odyssey through diplomatic channels as recently as Jan. 13, 2006, that there would be no interference with operations relating to the Sussex."
But on Thursday, Spain asked the company to back down, which it had already done, having moved its ship earlier in the week away from the site. Odyssey says it is awaiting guidance from the State Department and British authorities before deciding its next move.
By WILLIAM J. BROAD
What is probably the world's richest sunken treasure — the Sussex, a British warship that went to the bottom of the Mediterranean in 1694 with a cargo of coins now worth up to $4 billion — has become embroiled in a bitter diplomatic dispute that pits Spain against Britain, the United States and an American company that wants to salvage the wreck.
The conflict turns on arcane and often disputed aspects of international law that govern sovereign waters and the rights of shipwreck owners and finders.
Spain claims the waters, off the coast of Gibraltar. Britain claims the ship, says its decomposing hull rests in the high seas, and has struck a deal with the American company, Odyssey Marine Exploration Inc. of Tampa, Fla., to split the recovery's proceeds.
Last month, the company had its 250-foot ship lower a seven-ton robot with lights, cameras and flexible arms to begin an archaeological survey, the first step in recovery of the wreckage of the ship, which lies in waters a half-mile deep. The goal is to positively identify the wreck and look for the lost coins, which the company says are most likely gold, nine tons of it.
Spain, which approved the project in July 2005, has now reversed itself. That, company officials say, has started a diplomatic tussle and created dangerous conditions at sea as, because of the Spanish vilification of the project, flotillas of small ships have pulled close in protest.
"We have been very disappointed in the unprofessional and dangerous behavior that some of the local vessels have engaged in," said Greg Stemm, co-founder of Odyssey. "We are seeking legal redress to prevent this from happening in the future." The company, he added, is taking "every avenue available before someone is seriously hurt or worse."
Mr. Stemm added that for the last two weeks, "we have been front-page news everywhere in Spain almost every day." Until the most recent diplomatic incident, he said, "we kept a low profile" at the request of the involved governments.
The Spanish Embassy in Washington declined to comment, referring inquiries to a statement posted by the Spanish Foreign Ministry on its Web site. The statement said Odyssey must immediately suspend operations because it had failed to meet conditions set by Madrid.
The company said that on Thursday Spain went through diplomatic channels to ask Odyssey to suspend operations until the autonomous region of Andalusia, which surrounds Gibraltar and also claims the wreckage, can appoint an expert to observe recovery operations. Spain said Andalusia had not previously appointed an expert because it believed Odyssey was working without appropriate authorization.
Odyssey, and the State Department, say Spain is ignoring a history of agreements and understandings with the Tampa company.
The story began in 1694 as H.M.S. Sussex led a large fleet of English and allied ships into the Mediterranean to prosecute a war against French expansionism. The flagship, a new British warship of 80 guns and 500 men, reportedly carried a small fortune in treasure to buy the loyalty of the Duke of Savoy, a shaky ally.
But a storm hit the flotilla near the Strait of Gibraltar, and the Sussex went down. All but two men died.
From 1998 to 2001, Odyssey conducted four expeditions off Gibraltar and found what the British authorities believe to be the Sussex. The exploratory work was done with British approval, and the tentative find was announced in February 2002. Later that year, Odyssey signed an agreement with the British government to raise the treasure.
The partnership called for archaeological integrity and close attention to recovering not only coins but also such artifacts as the ship's tools, cannons and navigational gear, eventually for public display.
Odyssey says it worked with the American State Department to win Spanish approval of the project, doing so in July 2005. The company began work with its large recovery ship on Dec. 12.
At first, the archaeological survey to prepare the wreck for excavation went smoothly, Mr. Stemm said. But by early January, local Andalusians and regional officials had become hostile, with a rising clamor in the press and numerous incidents at sea.
On Jan. 11, the Guardia Civil, an Andalusian coastal vessel, approached the company's ship in a menacing fashion, Mr. Stemm said, adding, "It wasn't apparent if they were armed."
In a statement issued yesterday, the company said it had started work on the Sussex "in good faith" after the Spanish government assured it that the failure of Andalusia to appoint an expert to join the expedition would not be considered a failure of Odyssey to comply with the cooperative agreement.
"In addition," the company said, "assurances were provided to Odyssey through diplomatic channels as recently as Jan. 13, 2006, that there would be no interference with operations relating to the Sussex."
But on Thursday, Spain asked the company to back down, which it had already done, having moved its ship earlier in the week away from the site. Odyssey says it is awaiting guidance from the State Department and British authorities before deciding its next move.
Ontario provides safe harbour for Great Lakes marine heritage
TORONTO, Jan. 27 /CNW/ - The Ontario government is providing greater protection for two of the most significant and vulnerable marine archaeological sites in provincial waters, Culture Minister Madeleine Meilleur announced today.
A new regulation under the amended Ontario Heritage Act limits access to the shipwreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald in Lake Superior. The regulation also limits access to the wrecks of the Hamilton and the Scourge, prescribed as one site, in Lake Ontario. Anyone wishing to dive to one of these sites, or operate research equipment near them, will now require a site-specific license issued by the Province.
"With more than 500 shipwrecks discovered in Ontario's lakes, our province has some of the finest marine heritage resources in the world," said Meilleur. "The sites we have chosen for special protection are unique. We want to ensure that these fragile underwater sites - all of which contain human remains - are treated with care and respect."
The Edmund Fitzgerald is one of the best known shipwrecks in the Great Lakes. The American bulk carrier encountered a storm on Lake Superior on November 10, 1975, and sank, with the loss of all 29 crew members, in Canadian waters northwest of Whitefish Point, Michigan.
"We are very pleased that the Province has recognized the Edmund Fitzgerald as an important heritage site," said Ruth Hudson and Cheryl Rozman, who both lost close family members when the ship sank. "We are thankful that the site is protected from unauthorized visits, and we can now be at peace."
The Hamilton and Scourge were merchant schooners pressed into naval service during the War of 1812. They sank in Lake Ontario, north of Port Dalhousie, in August 1813. Of the 72 crew aboard both ships, 53 perished - the single greatest loss of life on the Great Lakes during the war.
The Hamilton and Scourge rest under 300 feet of water, and have been remarkably well-preserved by their cold and dark surroundings. Discovered in 1975 and explored in separate expeditions by Jacques Cousteau and the National Geographic Society, the wrecks offer a unique insight into 19th century military and social life. The Hamilton and Scourge are owned by the City of Hamilton.
"The City of Hamilton supports the Province's selection of the Hamilton and Scourge site for special protection," said Ian Kerr-Wilson, Project Coordinator of the Hamilton and Scourge National Historic Site. "We commend the Ontario government for its innovative commitment to the preservation of our marine heritage."
The looting and intentional damage of any marine archaeological sites, including heritage shipwrecks, is illegal under the Ontario Heritage Act. An amendment made to the act when it was revised in April 2005 increased the potential fine for violators to $1 million.
"The increased protection of Ontario's marine heritage sites is another concrete example of this government's commitment to the preservation of our heritage resources," said Meilleur.
A new regulation under the amended Ontario Heritage Act limits access to the shipwreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald in Lake Superior. The regulation also limits access to the wrecks of the Hamilton and the Scourge, prescribed as one site, in Lake Ontario. Anyone wishing to dive to one of these sites, or operate research equipment near them, will now require a site-specific license issued by the Province.
"With more than 500 shipwrecks discovered in Ontario's lakes, our province has some of the finest marine heritage resources in the world," said Meilleur. "The sites we have chosen for special protection are unique. We want to ensure that these fragile underwater sites - all of which contain human remains - are treated with care and respect."
The Edmund Fitzgerald is one of the best known shipwrecks in the Great Lakes. The American bulk carrier encountered a storm on Lake Superior on November 10, 1975, and sank, with the loss of all 29 crew members, in Canadian waters northwest of Whitefish Point, Michigan.
"We are very pleased that the Province has recognized the Edmund Fitzgerald as an important heritage site," said Ruth Hudson and Cheryl Rozman, who both lost close family members when the ship sank. "We are thankful that the site is protected from unauthorized visits, and we can now be at peace."
The Hamilton and Scourge were merchant schooners pressed into naval service during the War of 1812. They sank in Lake Ontario, north of Port Dalhousie, in August 1813. Of the 72 crew aboard both ships, 53 perished - the single greatest loss of life on the Great Lakes during the war.
The Hamilton and Scourge rest under 300 feet of water, and have been remarkably well-preserved by their cold and dark surroundings. Discovered in 1975 and explored in separate expeditions by Jacques Cousteau and the National Geographic Society, the wrecks offer a unique insight into 19th century military and social life. The Hamilton and Scourge are owned by the City of Hamilton.
"The City of Hamilton supports the Province's selection of the Hamilton and Scourge site for special protection," said Ian Kerr-Wilson, Project Coordinator of the Hamilton and Scourge National Historic Site. "We commend the Ontario government for its innovative commitment to the preservation of our marine heritage."
The looting and intentional damage of any marine archaeological sites, including heritage shipwrecks, is illegal under the Ontario Heritage Act. An amendment made to the act when it was revised in April 2005 increased the potential fine for violators to $1 million.
"The increased protection of Ontario's marine heritage sites is another concrete example of this government's commitment to the preservation of our heritage resources," said Meilleur.
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