Just to make sure everyone involved sees this note, here is a cross-post
from ARCH-L and NAUTARCH (sorry for the duplication).
Anita Cohen-Williams; Reference Services; Hayden Library
Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287-1006
PHONE: (602) 965-4579 FAX: (602) 965-9169
INTERNET: [log in to unmask] Owner: HISTARCH
*** Forwarding note from IACAGC --ASUACAD 02/13/95 09:48 ***
To: ARCH --CMSNAMES
From: Anita Cohen-Williams
Subject: Serranilla Banks Project
A historical note: this message was originally posted to ARCH-L on March
15, 1994. It was also cross-posted to the H-LATAM list. The NAUTARCH list did
not come into being until November of 1994. An update will follow this note.
RESEARCH SUMMARY
THE SERRANILLA BANKS PROJECT
Located near the center of the Caribbean Sea, in Colombian waters, are the
Serranilla Banks, a large formation of reefs and sand bars that were a major
navigational obstacle during the age of discovery and colonial period. As a
result of various maritime disasters, the Serranillas serve as the final
resting place for a diverse array of sunken ships, including the outbound
galleons traveling from Porto Bello and Cartagena to Havana. The Serranilla
Banks Project seeks to identify and evaluate the submerged cultural resources
present in this region.
The project is made possible by the Colombian Shipwreck Act. The government of
Colombia has established that the discoverers of submerged cultural resources
will be paid five percent of the value, in cash, of any materials that are
identified. To complete this process, an organization must provide funding and
institute a professional, conventional research project, approved by the
government of Colombia. In the course of the study of a site, archaeologists
will acquire artifacts that remain the sole property of the Colombian
government. At the end of the research process these items will all be turned
over to the national museum designated by the Colombian government. In this
case, the Pacific Geographic Society (a for-profit research corporation) has
entered into an agreement with the Colombian government to undertake an
operation that will result in their receiving a payment in exchange for their
financing the discovery and study of certain cultural remains (in this case,
submerged shipwreck sites of the Serranillas). The Center for Spanish Colonial
Archaeology (a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit research organization that has major
projects involving sites in Arizona and California) is serving as the
organizational unit and scholarly institution that is recruiting an
appropriate research team, and facilitating the required archeological
studies. We see this process as essentially identical to one where a
terrestrial resource, such as a Spanish colonial settlement, would suffer
significant impacts from the creation of some other form of development, such
as the construction of an industrial plant or housing. The project is
therefore being treated as a problem of international cultural resource
management.
Funding for the program includes monies designated to support data retrieval,
analysis, conservation of artifacts, write-up, presentations at scholarly
meetings, and the systematic publication of results. All aspects of this
process are equally funded, irrespective of the specific results of any phase
of the research.
The proposed Serranilla Banks Project, like all similar scientific endeavors,
seeks to resolve a specific set of questions that relate to human behavior as
well as to other broad aspects of the scholarly endeavor of archaeology. The
Center has two additional specific sets of responsibilities, which relate to
both the sponsoring organization (in this example, the Pacific Geographic
Society) and the Colombian government. In both cases, we recognize that the
most significant information we can provide relates to the general evaluation
of the sites we are investigating as cultural resources. Because, to a
considerable extent, the Pacific Geographic Society has a strong interest in
the nature and character of what it encountered as a financial investment, we
have a special obligation to provide them with insights into what additional
stages of data retrieval might produce. In regards to the Colombian
government, we feel a special obligation to provide them with relevant
information that will be useful in creating policies in regard to the
management of cultural resources.
For more information about the project, feel free to contact:
Dr. Jack S. Williams - Principal Investigator
Serranilla Banks Project
Center for Spanish Colonial Archaeology
1743 S. Standage
Mesa, AZ 85202
(602) 820-5492
[log in to unmask]
The Research Design for the project can be purchased for the costs of
photocopying and S&H.
Anita Cohen-Williams; Reference Services; Hayden Library
Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287-1006
PHONE: (602) 965-4579 FAX: (602) 965-9169
INTERNET: [log in to unmask] Owner: HISTARCH
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