In-situ preservation of underwater cultural heritage in Taiwan and related issues
Dublin Core
Title
In-situ preservation of underwater cultural heritage in Taiwan and related issues
Description
The preservation of underwater cultural heritage is a nascent matter in Taiwan, and it is necessary to accumulate
experience from trial and error in order to establish appropriate and feasible practice. As far as the in-situ
preservation of underwater cultural heritage is concerned, in accordance with the ‘UNESCO Convention on the
Protection of Underwater Cultural Heritage’, the domestic ‘Underwater Cultural Heritage Preservation Act’
stipulates that ‘underwater cultural heritage should be preserved in-situ as a principle’, and thus the competent
authority imposes strict restrictions on the practices of preservation and excavation of underwater cultural
heritage. But such actions have caused debates, such as: ‘Is in-situ preservation reasonable in theory or feasible
in practice?’
In Taiwan, since 2006, the underwater archeology team of Academia Sinica commissioned by the Cultural
Heritage Bureau of the Ministry of Culture has officially launched the archaeological investigation of
underwater cultural heritage. It has so far collected more than 700 pieces of documentary records of shipwrecks
and underwater cultural relics in the surrounding waters of Taiwan, and 500 of them have been preliminarily
investigated and verified as significant underwater targets. Among the 500 targets, 97 were confirmed as the
remains of shipwrecks and cultural relics, and 6 of them have already been listed by the competent authority as
special underwater cultural heritage in accordance with the ‘Act’ by now. Many more underwater cultural
heritages are being prepared for listing. The problem currently arising is that are all listed underwater cultural
assets required to be preserved in situ? How can we appropriately preserve them in-situ? Undoubtedly, this is a
subject that needs to be carefully evaluated and planned.
experience from trial and error in order to establish appropriate and feasible practice. As far as the in-situ
preservation of underwater cultural heritage is concerned, in accordance with the ‘UNESCO Convention on the
Protection of Underwater Cultural Heritage’, the domestic ‘Underwater Cultural Heritage Preservation Act’
stipulates that ‘underwater cultural heritage should be preserved in-situ as a principle’, and thus the competent
authority imposes strict restrictions on the practices of preservation and excavation of underwater cultural
heritage. But such actions have caused debates, such as: ‘Is in-situ preservation reasonable in theory or feasible
in practice?’
In Taiwan, since 2006, the underwater archeology team of Academia Sinica commissioned by the Cultural
Heritage Bureau of the Ministry of Culture has officially launched the archaeological investigation of
underwater cultural heritage. It has so far collected more than 700 pieces of documentary records of shipwrecks
and underwater cultural relics in the surrounding waters of Taiwan, and 500 of them have been preliminarily
investigated and verified as significant underwater targets. Among the 500 targets, 97 were confirmed as the
remains of shipwrecks and cultural relics, and 6 of them have already been listed by the competent authority as
special underwater cultural heritage in accordance with the ‘Act’ by now. Many more underwater cultural
heritages are being prepared for listing. The problem currently arising is that are all listed underwater cultural
assets required to be preserved in situ? How can we appropriately preserve them in-situ? Undoubtedly, this is a
subject that needs to be carefully evaluated and planned.
Creator
Tsang Cheng-Hwa
Huang Han-chang
Publisher
The Museum of Underwater Archaeology
Date
2023
Language
English
Bibliographic Citation
Tsang, Cheng-hwa and Han-chang Huang. 2023. “In-situ preservation of underwater cultural heritage in Taiwan and related issues.” Edited by Jennifer Craig, Jay Mok, T. Kurt Knoerl, and Elena Pérez Álvaro. Proceedings of Fifth Asia Pacific Regional Conference on Underwater Cultural Heritage: Gwangju, The Republic of Korea, November 13-18 2023. The Museum of Underwater Archaeology. URL: https://apconf.omeka.net/exhibits/show/apconfproceedings/item/2006
Files
Collection
Citation
Tsang Cheng-Hwa and Huang Han-chang, “In-situ preservation of underwater cultural heritage in Taiwan and related issues,” Asia Pacific Regional Conference on Underwater Cultural Heritage Proceedings, accessed September 16, 2026, https://apconf.omeka.net/items/show/2006.