Presentación de PowerPoint - UNESCO...In 2005, Spain ratified the 2001 UNESCO Convention on the...

SUBDIRECCIÓN GENERAL DE PROTECCIÓN DEL

PATRIMONIO HISTÓRICO

ELISA DE CABO DE LA VEGA

Subdirectora General

Subdirección General de Protección

del Patrimonio Histórico - MECD

In 2005, Spain ratified the 2001 UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage, thus making an ongoing commitment to defend, study, and value this wide array of artifacts of cultural heritage. In Spain, it is the Department of Protection of Historic Heritage that coordinates the implementation of the Convention.



In 2007, Spain's Council of Ministers, intending to transform the commitment made by ratification of the Convention into a set of effective and well-planned actions, approved PNPPAS, the Plan Nacional de Protección del Patrimonio Arqueológico Subacuático (National Plan for the Protection of the Underwater Archeological Heritage.)



Spain's National Plan for the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage - Decalogue of guidelines

1. Documentation and inventory. 2. Creation of an "Integrated Program of Geographical Information on the

Underwater Cultural Heritage". 3. Agreement by all public administrations to mandate the highest possible

level of protection for the most significant underwater archeological zones on our coastlines, to be known as "Assets of Cultural Interest".

4. Physical and legal protection. 5. Training. 6. Appropriate resources. 7. Coordination. 8. Development of an action protocol for construction of port infrastructure. 9. Development of inter-ministry agreements. 10.Dissemination and raising awareness.



On December 12, 2007, the Historical Heritage Council established a working group to draft the PNPPAS development document, whose end product was the Libro Verde del Patrimonio Subacuático [Green Book of Underwater Heritage] Proposes the priority actions that Spain should carry out to ensure effective guardianship of its underwater cultural heritage.

Green Book of Underwater Heritage



November 2008 saw the re- inauguration of the ARQUA, the National Museum of Underwater Archeology.

ARQUA- ARQUATEC The National Museum of Underwater Archeology




Recently, a new conservation and restoration laboratory, ARQUATEC, was opened. This means that Spain now has one of Europe's cutting edge facilities, competent to respond to any problems that might arise anywhere in the country regarding its underwater cultural heritage.



• The first Meeting of the Scientific and Technical Advisory Body to the 2001 Convention on the Protection of Underwater Cultural Heritage took place at the Spanish National Museum for Maritime

• Archaeology (ARQUA) in Cartagena, Spain, on 14 and 15 June 2010. • 2013 this museum was the host of the First National Congress on

Underwater Archeology

• October 2014, IKUWA V the International Congress on Underwater Archeology was held, drawing over 150 experts in the field.


The case of the Nuestra Señora de las

Mercedes



The case of the Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes was a turning point in the area of legal defense of underwater cultural heritage against treasure hunting enterprises. The Spanish State, through its Ministry of Culture, and more specifically through the Department of Protection of Historic Heritage sued Odyssey, a treasure hunting company, before the Court of Tampa, Florida, in litigation that lasted almost seven years. Spain submitted what the Court referred to as "extraordinary documentation" from the Archives of the Indies and the Archives of the Spanish Navy to demonstrate that the wreckage was that of the Mercedes, a State-owned ship. The Courts at all levels ruled in favor of Spain.

JUDICIAL DECISIONS

The case of the Nuestra Señora de las

Mercedes





The principal legal and factual points that were central to the decision were these: 1.- The evidence that Spain had assembled proved to absolute certainty that the “Black Swan” was the Mercedes. The court declared that Odysse had engaged in “ bad faith denial of the existence and identify of Spain´s Mercedes” 2.- The Mercedes was on active service as a ship of state and remains entitled to the sovereign immunity that all nations are required to grant ships of state 3.- Odysse´s activities at the shipwreck site “irreparably disturbed” a Spanish national archeological and historic site. 4.- The Mercedes´s sovereign immunity includes all of the cargo that Mercedes was carrying, including the shipments registered by particulares 5.- Odyssey was ordered to return to Spanish custody every artifact that Odyssey had taken from the Mercedes. 6.- Odyssey had no right to any payment or compensation for the coins and other artifacts removed without authorization by Spain

1- REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION,

Magistrate Judge, 3 of june, 2009

“More than two hundres years have passed since the

Mercedes exploded. Her place of rest and all those

who perished with her that fateful day remained

undisturbed for the centuries until recently.

International law recognizes the solemnity of their

memorial, and Spain´s sovereign interest in preserving

it.”



2 - ORDER. DISTRICT JUDGE, 22 of

december, 2009

“It ordered Odyssey to release the recovered rest to

the custody of Spain.”





3 - UNITED STATES COURT OF

APPEALS, ELEVENTH CIRCUIT,

21 of september 2011



4 - PETITION FOR CERTIORARI, THE

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED

STATES,

29 of november 2011



5.- FINAL RESOLUTION

September 25, 2013,

United States courts fined Odyssey for "continued

frivolity and bad faith" throughout the litigation, as it had

refused to identify the wreck, and exhausted all the

appeal despite knowing that it was indeed the Nuestra

Señora de la Mercedes, and defiantly resisted the rulings

of the courts.



Return of the artefacts

United States-Spain



INVENTORY AT THE MINISTRY OF

CULTURE



The result of the count

total number of coins: 574.553

loose coins: 309.396

Coins forming blocks: 265.157

Complete Currencies: 570.753

Fragments of coins: 3800



The exhibition "The Last Voyage of the

Frigate Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes"



First Mercedes Expedition: A non-intrusive

archeological mission

The main goals of this survey were:

1.- To identify the total extent of the site, and to obtain scientific

information on the wreck itself and on the artifacts present on the site;

2.- To document the damage caused by the unscientific intervention

carried out by the US company, Odyssey Marine Explorations; and

Beginning and ending at the Rota Naval Base in Cadiz, the operation

took five days, from August 18 to August 23, 2015.



RESULTS:

1.- The effort succeeded in finding the exact location of the wreck, which allowed installation of a commemorative plaque in honor of all crew members who died

during the tragic British attack on the Nuestra Señora de la Mercedes. 2.- This archeological survey was conducted 1200 meters under the sea, which set

a record in the field of underwater archeology. 3.- The survey consisted of archeological mapping, and assessing the current

condition of the wreckage. 4.- A number of parts were removed, in an effort to document and research the

wreck of the frigate. Also removed were items of Nineteenth Century naval shipbuilding and other objects, which can now be found in the ARQUA

laboratories, for processing. 5.- Charts were made of the area in which the Nuestra Señora de Las Mercedes went down, and a systematic bathymetric sounding of the wreckage site was

carried out, with a redundant overlap of 100%. 6.- It was also possible to study how the systems and techniques used by Odyssey for extracting coins, caused

severe damage to the wreck.



TANGIBLE RESULTS:

1.- A Print and digital

publication “The shipwreck

Nuestra Señora de las

Mercedes”

2.- TWO videos: a 10-minute

video to disseminate the

success of the campaign and

other one of 20 minutes. to

which all participants in the

expedition contributed.



Second expedition to the Mercedes

archeological site

The tasks to be carried out are: • removing certain objects, such as cannons, crockery, and narrow-caliber

arms called culebrinas, so it would be possible to continue research on the frigate's cargo;

• to document naval construction and navigation practices of the late

eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries;

• mapping and bathymetric cartography would be completed for this site and its total extent identified

• DATE: 7-19 September



Second expedition to the Mercedes

archeological site

Results:

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Documents

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