IN SITU PROTECTION AND MONITORING OF UNDERWATER PRE- HISTORIC SETTLEMENT REMAINS: EXAMPLES OF THE PRACTICAL IMPLEMENTATION IN SWITZERLAND

Hafner, Albert (2020). IN SITU PROTECTION AND MONITORING OF UNDERWATER PRE- HISTORIC SETTLEMENT REMAINS: EXAMPLES OF THE PRACTICAL IMPLEMENTATION IN SWITZERLAND. In: Hafner, Albert; Öniz, Hakan; Semaan, Lucy; Underwood, Christopher J. (eds.) Heritage Under Water at Risk: Challenges, Threats and Solutions (pp. 142-145). Paris: International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS)

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Nothing lasts forever. Archaeologists who are confronted with the fact that archaeological sites are destroyed in one way or another know this best. Archaeological sites on land are erased from the cities and landscapes through construction work. The loss of archaeological sites caused by agriculture are considerable when ploughing extends into archaeological strata. Underwater, destruction of the archaeological material and substrates by erosion of the lake bottom is even less perceptible, as damage can only be detected when looking under water. In addition, rare and fragile organic objects are usually preserved in underwater sites. Observations must therefore be particularly meticulous in order to be able to detect the changes to submerged archaeological sites at all. The 1992 European Convention for the Protection of the Archaeological Heritage (also known as the Valletta Convention) requires in one of its first articles that each State Party undertakes measures for the physical protection of the archaeological heritage. Depending on the circumstances the following measures have to be provided. First, the acquisition or protection of land to create archaeological reserves and second, to preserve and care for the archaeological heritage, primarily in its original location. In Switzerland, the awareness of preserving archaeological sites in situ has been increased by the European Convention for the Protection of the Archaeological Heritage of 1992. This is certainly related to the fact that the protection of archaeological sources in general is increasingly taken into greater consideration. In the same period, the term ‘monitoring’ appeared in the terminology of archaeological heritage management. Monitoring, in general, means to describe the systematic recording, observation, or follow-up of an event or process with the aid of technical aids or systems. The central element is a periodic execution in order to draw conclusions on the basis of data comparisons. With regard to underwater archaeology, monitoring activities are all efforts to ensure the long-term physical preservation of underwater archaeological sites. Regular observation may alert cultural heritage management authorities.

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