Azores and Angra bay's submerged cultural resources management plan
With Azores's
extensive maritime history and abundant coastline, shipwrecks are an important
component of the region's underwater heritage. The vast majority of shipwrecks
in Azorean waters do not contain gold, silver, jewelry, or other precious
metals. So-called "treasure" galleons that were lost in the Azores
were salvaged soon after the event whenever possible, since economic effects of
so great a loss were profoundly felt throughout Spain an Portugal.
More than 900 ships are recorded as lost in
the Azores; only 142 - circa 15% - of these ever carried treasure, of which 22
were wrecked inside Angra bay, in depths that go as deep as 60 meters.
The real treasure of these shipwrecks is their
potential to help us reconstruct a picture of the past. They represent time
capsules left to us by the people who designed, built, loaded, and sailed the
vessels.
Shipwreck sites, in contrast to most archaeological sites on land,
often reflect the results of sudden cataclysmic events.
They exist by themselves, isolated in time and
space, providing what the archaeologists call a closed context view of the past.
Angra bay. Diver at
120' (36 m.) checks two of the dozens of historical anchors.
Photo: Christoph Gerik
As such, all water craft found in the Azores
reflect the history of the region and, quite often, its relationships with
other parts of the world. Each has a particular story to add to our knowledge
of the island's history. As such, Azorean
submerged cultural resources, like its natural resources, are composed of an
assortment of often accessible but fragile assets.
The problem resides in the fact that, unlike
living plant and animal resources, Azores's cultural resources are
non-renewable. Once damaged or destroyed, they are gone forever and any
information that may have been learned from them is lost. As Azores's rapid
growth increasingly impacts the natural and cultural resources of the islands,
resource management and preservation assume greater importance. Since 1994, a
growing awareness of the significance of these resources has resulted in
increasing concern for their protection and preservation.
This growing awareness has also served as a way
to identify the many ways in which underwater sites may be impacted. Some of
these causes are natural, like storms and erosion. Others are related to human
activities and are potentially controllable. Of these human impacts, many are
unintentional or inadvertent. Potentially damaging activities such as dredging
and boating, reflect the many demands placed on Azores's finite submerged
cultural resources. Some human impacts, however, are more deliberate.
Waterfront development in the Azores meant vast
dredging and filling operations, that turned small areas of coastline into
sidewalks and building lots separated by seawalls. Such activities are no
longer occurring, but the pace of development along the coast continues and
increases. Projects that have the potential to disturb submerged lands that
might contain cultural resources, are now happening all over the islands, be it
the construction of fishing harbors or the construction of marinas. These
projects have all proceeded in the belief that no adverse impact to submerged
sites would occur and there were never means available to actually examine
shoreline construction areas in advance of work that might damage shipwrecks or
other archaeological - even natural - sites.
It was considering that the Azorean submerged cultural resources represent
unique and valuable, publicly owned resources that have the potential to
provide sustained cultural, recreational, and economic values and benefits,
while significantly representing archaeological and historical values that are
not renewable, that the Azorean Cultural Direction of the Regional Government
(DRAC, actually DRC), the Institute of Nautical Archaeology from the Texas
A&M University (INA) and the Portuguese Center for Nautical and Underwater
Archaeology (CNANS) have developed, over time, isolated actions on this field,
and promoted several initiatives
in
collaboration with the non-profit cultural association Arqueonautica, to
locally create a group of interested and qualified people to develop the
protection of the underwater cultural heritage.
These initiatives were,
unfortunately, in response to particular problems or issues - like the knee
jerk reaction against the treasure hunting lobbies that afflicted the Azores
between 1993 and 1997 - rather than having the benefit of comprehensive
planning. So, taking into account the archaeological potential of the islands,
the absence of a comprehensive management plan for submerged cultural resources
in the Azores was striking. This absence, mostly due to non-existing
staff and lack of ability to survey, identify, and assess the resources, has
since then been partly fulfilled by site investigations conducted on an
occasional and informal basis by volunteers, framed by portuguese or american
underwater archaeologists.
The city of Angra,
UNESCO's World Heritage Site,
with
the bay on it's left and the Monte Brasil in the background.
One of these site
investigations involved the execution of a pre-disturbance survey, prior to the construction of a yachting
harbor, in Angra bay, Terceira island. An underwater archaeological team,
sponsored by the Regional
Government of the Azores, by the Portuguese Institute of Archaeology and by the
Angra Harbor Authority, developed a
two-phase campaign, between September 1997 and July 1998.
The Angra bay survey and excavation project related with the marina
In 1996, related with the project of the construction of a marina in Angra bay,
the national department of cultural heritage (IPPAR) agreed with the DRAC to
promote preventively the archaeological survey of the bay. A strategy was then
drawn and developed with the coordination of the Museum of Angra do Heroísmo,
with the portuguese underwater archaeologist Francisco
Alves as an adviser.
In the same occasion, the Institute
of Nautical Archaeology (INA), from the Texas A&M University was
invited
to
develop a survey project in Azorean waters. Professor Kevin
Crisman accepted to begin it in Angra bay with a geophysical survey.
The INA team - Professor Kevin Crisman, leading archaeologist, Arthur
Cohn, director of the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum, Vermont,
and Professor William Bryant - used for that purpose a CHIRPS
sub
bottom profiler. Although no conclusive data could be obtained, the divers
found that bottom conditions
were
ideal for shipwreck preservation and, as such, a hand held metal detector and
test pit phase were in order. Magnetometer use was in vain, due to the volcanic
origin of the sea bottom.
The project was developed in
two phases. The first phase happened between September 1996 and February 1997.
A four member team of divers performed a pre-disturbance underwater
archaeological survey of Angra
bay,
specifically in the zone of the future marina. The survey, designed to retrieve
the maximum amount of information with a minimal amount of disturbance to the
site, used non-intrusive archaeological techniques,
which
included a visual survey, a sub bottom profiler and a metal detector, as well
as sample excavations done
at
the location of several metallic anomalies.
During the first phase of the project, three
historical wrecks were discovered and summarily identified on the east side of
the bay.
R/V Aguas Vivas, surveying the bottom of Angra bay, September 1997.
Photo: Christoph Gerrik
One of those wrecks was identified as being the
American Civil war blockade runner CSS Run'Her, run
aground
on the 4th, November, 1864, with bits of the wreckage spread all over the north
area of the bay. The
other
two were two wooden hulls, buried under 1 to 2 meters of sediments, in depths
of water of circa 7 meters, identified for archaeological purposes
as Angra C and Angra D (Angra A and Angra B being
already located on the west side of the bay). Six samples of wood, taken from
both wrecks, suggested that both dated from the same period, the last quarter
of the XVth century or the first quarter of the XVIth century. In spite of the little size of the identified
areas of Angra C and D, it was clear - and the radiocarbon
datations confirmed it - that those two wrecks should be completely excavated.
Therefore, a second phase of the project was
necessary, and the three entities already involved in the first phase prepared
a new protocol of collaboration, that was sent by the National
Center for Nautical and Underwater Archaeology (CNANS) of the
Portuguese Institute of Archaeology (IPA) to the regional authorities in June
1997
(the
position of the IPPAR was transferred to the IPA in May 1997 with the creation
of this autonomous Institute).
The project was placed under the
responsibility of the CNANS by inherence. Under the terms of that protocol,
an
archaeological team of eight people would be created during 14 months, and a
period of eight months was defined for the intervention. All the expenses would
be assumed by the regional authorities. More than eight months later, in March
1998, with the protocol not yet returned by the regional authorities, the CNANS
was suddenly contacted by the Administration of the Angra Harbor to prepare an
immediate intervention, because
the
works of the marina would begin the following week. The second phase was
carried in four months, from
April
to July, by a team of 16 people of six nationalities (Portugal, Spain, Canada,
France, Italy, and USA).
As external consultants, the
CNANS invited Eric Rieth, from the Center National de la Recherche Scientifique
(CNRS) and archaeology professor at the University of Paris 1, and Peter
Waddell, from Parks Canada, the former a specialist in medieval and
post-medieval ship building, the latter a world leading expert in hull
dismantling.
Both did extended dives on both sites. After
the excavation the two shipwrecks were completely dismantled piece by piece,
all of them being stored in several giant palettes that were placed outside the
intervention area of the marina works, in a deeper zone of the bay.
Filipe Castro and Kevin Crisman deploying
the Side Scan Sonar fish from the R/V Aguas Vivas.
Photo: Christoph Gerrik
Project design
The whole campaign
was laid out in accordance to the UNESCO Recommendation on International
Principles Applicable to Archaeological Excavations (New Delhi, 5 December
1956), the ICOMOS Charter for the Protection and Management of the
Archaeological Heritage (Lausanne, 1990) and the new ICOMOS Charter on the
Protection and Management of Underwater Cultural Heritage, ratified on October
9, 1996 by the UNESCO’s General Assembly, in Sofia.
According to the fundamental principles stated
on the article one of the ICOMOS Charter, public access to the wrecks was
encouraged, with local divers visiting the site and been shown around the site
and the archaeological archives. Public awareness was also promoted by articles
published in the local, national and international press and TV.
Although, the preservation of underwater
cultural heritage in situ was considered as a first option, building
constraints ruled out the use of non-destructive techniques, non-intrusive
survey and sampling for the second phase. Since both of the wrecks were in the
precise path of the breakwater soon to be built - and it's associated dredging
activities - all the authorities involved in the process agreed to conduct the
excavation, the dismantling and the removal of both wrecks to a secondary
location, in deeper water, to allow further study of them, while the
construction of the breakwater could proceed.
In all the steps, the investigation was accompanied
by adequate documentation. Accordingly to the article 2 of the Chart, the
project design took into account the mitigatory or objectives of the project by
devising an adequate methodology to be used. All the techniques to be employed
were discussed on the national and international levels of academic underwater
archaeology.
Fourteen months served as a time-table for the
completion of the project while the investigating team was formed by a mix of
sixteen underwater archaeologists and divers from Portugal, France, Italy,
Spain, Canada and United States of America. This team was coordinated by the
Director of CNANS, Francisco Alves who, according
to
the article 6 is an underwater archaeologist with recognized qualifications and
experience appropriate to the investigation. The leading archaeologist provided
on-site management, together with two local coordinators, who took care of all
the documentation, the health and safety code of practice and the report
preparation.
Unfortunately, no provisions were made
regarding the material conservation of the artifacts recovered, although all
the items brought to the surface were stabilized according to basic
conservation procedures. The
investigation was carried out in accordance with the project design, which was
revised and amended as necessary.
The project design was also made available to
the international archaeological community while dissemination of the
archaeological data has already started, in the form of scientific papers and
articles. No provisions were made for the
deposition of the archives, including the underwater cultural heritage removed
during investigation, although plans exist to transfer all the treated
materials to the Angra Museum.
On matters regarding article 3, the funding of
the campaign, adequate funds were not assured in advance of investigation to
complete all stages of the project design including conservation, report
preparation and dissemination. The project design did not include contingency
plans that would ensure the conservation of underwater cultural heritage and
supporting documentation in the event of any interruption in anticipated
funding,
which as occurred immediately after the physical removal of the wrecks.
The excavation of the protecting trench for Angra C
Photo: Paulo Monteiro
As what regards the time table principles,
stated in article 4, although adequate time was assured in advance of
investigation to complete all stages of the project design including
conservation, report preparation and dissemination, the discontinuing of the
funding after the first 4 months of the campaign was preventing the safe
keeping of the wrecks with the inherent loss of archaeological data. Even the
contingency plans that were devised - and that would ensure the conservation of
underwater cultural heritage still underwater in the event of any interruption
in anticipated timings – and which included the reburial of the dismantled
wrecks, were not implemented, at the time, by the Harbor Authority.
Artifacts recovered during the
investigation are now stored and stabilized at the team's headquarters, in
Angra. Unfortunately, without complicated and expensive stabilization
treatments, virtually all organic, and most metal, artifacts recovered form Angra
C & D will be destroyed. There is now an urgent need for the
development of long-term management strategies for the sites, to provide a
measure of on-site management and to respond to periodic requests by the public
for information.
In conclusion, the project for the archaeological rescue of Angra C and D
was not an easy task given the pressures from the media and political arena to
speed up the excavation, conceivably at the expense of systematic and
controlled scientific procedures. Were it not for the most recent developments,
all might have been lost, and all the money, time and efforts devoted to the project
would have been in vain. Worst, the underwater heritage recovered would have
been forever lost.
Recently (late November), adequate funds were
finally made available by the regional authorities in advance
of
investigation to complete all stages of the project design including
conservation, report preparation and dissemination. In fact, the initial
project design did not include contingency plans that would ensure the
conservation of underwater cultural heritage and supporting documentation in
the event of any interruption in anticipated funding, which has occurred
immediately after the physical removal of the wrecks. This makes it possible to
proceed with the stabilization treatments for all organic and metal artifacts
recovered form Angra C
and
D.
Although much has been accomplished in
this way, more regional and site-specific data, more complete inventories,
better management policies, and increased inter-agency coordination would
improve the Regional Government's ability to promote its unique cultural
resources for the public benefit. In regard to the more pressing matter of the
wrecks rescued prior to the construction of Angra's marina, the availability of
funds will now make it possible to undertake the post-fieldwork analysis of
artifacts, wreck timbers and documentation, which is integral to the
investigation. Only with further study of the remaining artifacts and the
intensive study of the preserved timbers will it be possible to shed some light
as to the origin and shipboard life, naval architecture, and other questions
concerning sixteenth and seventeenth-century ships as well as the natural
and/or intentional circumstances surrounding the wrecking episode, contemporary
salvage and deterioration of the vessels now know as Angra C and Angra
D.