UNESCOの水中文化遺産保護法が注目を集めてきている中、トレジャーハンターはその活動の場をうしないつつあるようです。２０年ほど前までは沈没船の財宝を売買し利益を得ることは場合によっては可能でしたが、現在ではメディアなどを巧みに利用し資金集めに専念することが一般的なようです。直接遺物を売って得られた収入はあまりなく、その他の収入で活動を続けるケースがおおいようです。アメリカのOdyseeyMarine社（唯一正式に取引されているトレジャーハンティング専門株式会社）がその良い例ではないでしょうか？ただし、Odyssey Marine社は沈没船の引き上げを実際に行っています。水中文化遺産の保護が広く知られ、水中の遺跡にも地上の遺跡と同等の保護が適応される法律の整備などが世界各地で整えばこのような会社はさらに活動の場所を失うことになると考えられています。

さて、このニュースを機会に実際に学問としての海洋考古学、沈没船の研究があることを知っていただければ幸いだと思います。現在、沈没船に興味のある人の多くが沈没船を遺跡をしてきちんとみなし、陸上の考古学と同じように記録・調査し、研究をしています。沈没船を商業目的として利用しようとする人はそれほどおおくありませんが、今後、このような会社がでてこないようにするためにも法律の整備などが必要とされているのではないでしょうか？

貴重な水中文化遺産の保護のため、アジア地域でINESCOがこれらのトレーニングを開催しています。オーストラリアなどから専門家を招き基礎から実際の沈没船の調査から学んでいきます。タイの考古学者は２００１年のUNESCOの水中文化遺産保護法案が適応されることを願っており、また、カンボジアから参加した考古学者は自国の研究がもっと進むことを願っています。カンボジアはすでに水中文化遺産保護条約を可決し、水中文化遺産の保護を進めています。しかし、沈没船の研究を行っている専門家はまだ少なく、技術や方法論もまだこれから学んでいくことが必要だと語っています。このワークショップに刺激され、参加者は各国で水中文化遺産の保護のためそれぞれ活動を開始する予定でいるそうです。

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Treasures of the deep gain protection (Bangkok Post)

The exploration is part of Unesco’s six-week training on underwater cultural heritage preservation.

The divers are from Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Thailand.

They have been picked for an underwater heritage protection programme organised by the United Nations Education, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) and the Fine Arts Department’s Underwater Archaeology Division (UAD) which runs from Oct 26 to Dec 6.

Division head Erbprem Vatcharangkul said Thailand has 64 underwater archaeological sites. He said all of them, especially those in shallow water, were under threat from treasure hunters.

Protection of the sites required well-trained staff and cooperation from local people, including fishermen.

Other countries in the Asia-Pacific region face similar problems which prompted Unesco to set up the regional field training centre to promote underwater heritage protection in the region and to exchange conservation information.

The centre plans to hold four training courses. The course in Rayong was the first.

Trainees will be taught by experts from Australia, the Netherlands and Thailand.

“The participants will be trained in underwater archaeology protection from basic to advanced levels, both in theory and practice,” Mr Erbprem said.

On the 15th day of the course, the trainees were assigned to dive to a depth of 18 metres to measure the length, width and height of a wooden shipwreck which was found two nautical miles west of Koh Mannok, off Rayong’s Klaeng district.

“The boat structure and some ancient coins which were found at the site could [reveal] the age of the sunken boat which belonged to the early period of King Rama VI [early last century],” he said.

“This shipwreck is another piece of the jigsaw that will help give a clear picture of history.”

The official called on fishermen to help safeguard the archaeological site by stopping their use of destructive fishing practices in the area.

He said the government should also ratify the 2001 Convention on the Protection of Underwater Cultural Heritage for better protection of the country’s underwater heritage from commercial exploitation.

Nudy Phann, 38, deputy director-general of the General Department of Cultural Heritage, Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts in Cambodia, who took part in the training, said he believed his country had several underwater archaeological sites, but only one shipwreck had been discovered so far.

“No one has yet studied the shipwreck,” he said. “We don’t have expertise, equipment, or sufficient knowledge to explore underwater cultural heritage – that is why I am here to attend the training.

“Underwater cultural heritage is new for my country even though we ratified the convention in 2007.

“I am happy to be here and when I go back to my country I plan to set up a team to start surveying shipwrecks.”

Thai trainee Duangpond Kanya Singhasanee, 29, a graduate student from Silpakorn University’s historical archaeology faculty, said the training was extraordinary because participants were allowed to visit sites which were normally hard to reach.

Ms Duangpond is a diving master and had visited several archaeological sites.

“This training has inspired me to work in the field of underwater archaeology,” she said.