INTERNATIONAL ANDNATIONAL LAWSRELATING TOARCHAEOLOGYUNDERWATER 49
Ownership rights: Different states have different pro-
visions for the rights of owners in wreck. Most states will
allow the owner a certain time in which to claim owner-
ship. If no owner comes forward, then the ownership
will vest either in the state (UK) or in the finder (US).
States such as Turkey deem all cultural heritage to be owned
by the government and no private trade in these items
is allowed.
Rewards: Those states which apply salvage law to under-
water cultural heritage will reward the recovery of an his-
toric wreck with a salvage award (US and UK). In the UK,
this award may be extremely high, often over 75 per cent
of the value of the recovered artefacts. This high award is
said to encourage the reporting of finds and recoveries,
in what is termed a policy of ‘incentive to honesty’. If the
recovered artefacts are not of archaeological or historical
significance, the Receiver of Wreck in the UK may award
ownership of the artefacts to the salvor in lieu of a sal-
vage award. This, in effect, applies the law of finds. In those
states which do not apply salvage law or the law of finds
to historic wreck, such as Australia and France, the finder
will often be awarded a ‘finder’s reward’. This provides
an incentive for divers to report finds without recovering
anything.
Search licences: Most states will not necessarily
require a licence to search for underwater cultural
heritage (e.g. UK, Bahamas, South Africa and Canada).
Some states, such as Greece and Turkey, restrict search and
diving activities, and a licence is required to undertake
underwater searches.
Survey and excavation licences: Most states will
require a licence to survey and/or excavate an historic wreck.
The stringency of the licensing requirements varies from
state to state. Many Mediterranean states, such as Greece,
Turkey and Italy, have extremely strict licensing require-
ments, while many developing states have few, if any,
licensing requirements.
Penalties: The penalties for not abiding with regulations
also vary between states. Some states, such as Turkey, will
impose heavy fines and confiscate equipment.
Export of cultural heritage: Most states impose export
or import restrictions on cultural heritage. This applies
to cultural heritage found on land and within the territ-
orial seas of the coastal state. Export without an export
licence will normally result in a criminal conviction.
Unfortunately, it is difficult to police the territorial sea and
it is often possible for clandestine excavation to take
place in a state’s territorial waters with the artefacts being
taken directly to another state.
INTERNATIONAL CONVENTIONS
UNESCO Convention for the Protection
of the Underwater Cultural Heritage
It should be evident from the above discussion that there
is little regulation of underwater archaeology beyond the
limits of state territorial jurisdiction. Salvage law has
tended to be applied in most cases, which is clearly not
appropriate to underwater cultural heritage. Concerned
that valuable archaeological information was being lost in
cases where inappropriate techniques were being applied
to the excavation of underwater cultural heritage in inter-
national waters, the International Law Association and the
International Council of Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS)
drafted a proposed Convention that would regulate under-
water archaeology in international waters. This draft Con-
vention was forwarded to UNESCO for consideration
and, with some amendment, was adopted by UNESCO
in 2001. It is currently awaiting ratification by a sufficient
number of states to bring it into force. The salient fea-
tures of the Convention include the following:- The introduction, as an Annexe to the Convention,
of an archaeological code of good practice and appro-
priate archaeological techniques, which are to be
applied to the excavation of underwater cultural
heritage. - The controversial extension of coastal-state regula-
tory jurisdiction over aspects of underwater cultural
heritage co-extensive with the exclusive economic
zone or the continental shelf of the coastal state. - Restricting the application of salvage law to under-
water cultural heritage to those instances where
prior authorization for disturbance has been given.
This effectively introduces a system of state-controlled
excavation. - The introduction of a system of penalties and
confiscatory powers for items recovered in a man-
ner not consistent with the archaeological code
and/or items illicitly exported or imported. - A very wide definition of what comprises underwater
cultural heritage. - A duty upon states to co-operate to implement the
provisions of the Convention.
European Convention on the Protection
of the Archaeological Heritage (revised)
Commonly referred to as the ‘Valletta Convention’ because
it was opened for signature by member states of the
Council of Europe and other states party to the European
Cultural Convention on 16 January 1992 at Valletta
in Malta, the aim of the Convention is to protect the