Anita Cohen-Williams; Reference Services; Hayden Library Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287-1006 PHONE: (602) 965-4579 FAX: (602) 965-9169 BITNET: IACAGC@ASUACAD INTERNET: [log in to unmask] *** Forwarding note from IACAGC --ASUACAD 03/15/94 11:02 *** To: ARCH --CMSNAMES From: Anita Cohen-Williams Subject: Serranilla Banks Project Anita Cohen-Williams; Reference Services; Hayden Library Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287-1006 PHONE: (602) 965-4579 FAX: (602) 965-9169 BITNET: IACAGC@ASUACAD INTERNET: [log in to unmask] *** Forwarding note from IACAGC --ASUACAD 03/15/94 11:01 *** To: HLAT --CMSNAMES From: Anita Cohen-Williams Subject: Serranilla Banks Project I am sending this along to this list as I thought people might be interested. Research Summary The Serranilla Banks Project Located near the center of the Caribbean Sea, in Colombian waters, are the Serranilla Banks, a large formation of reefs and sand bars that were a major navigational obstacle during the age of discovery and colonial period. As a result of various maritime disasters, the Serranillas serve as the final resting place for a diverse array of sunken ships, including the outbound galleons travelling from Porto Bello and Cartagena to Havana. The Serranilla Banks Project seeks to identify and evaluate the submerged cultural resources present in this region. The project is made possible by a previously unknown legal arrangement. The government of Colombia has established that the discoverers of submerged cultural resources will be paid five percent of the value, in cash, of any materials that are identified. To complete this process, an organization must provide funding and institute a professional, conventinal research project, approved by the government of Colombia. In the course of the study of a site the archaeologists will acquire artifacts that remain the sole property of the Colombian government. At the end of the research process these items will all be turned over to the national musem designated by the Colombian governemnt. In this case, the Pacific Geographic Society (a for-profit research corporation) is seeking to enter into an agreement with the Colombian government to undertake an operation that will result in their receiving a payment in exchange for their financing the discovery and study of certain cultural remians (in this case, submerged shipwreck sites of the Serranillas). The Center for Spanish Colonial Archaeology (a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit research organization that has major projects involving sites in Arizona and California) is serving as the organizational unit and scholarly institution that is recruiting an appropriate research team, and facilitating the required archaeological studies. We see this process as essentially identical to one where a terrestrial resource, such as a Spanish colonial settlement, would suffer significant impacts from the creation of some other form of development, such as the construction of an industrial plant or housing. The project is therefore being treated as a problem of international cultural resource management. Funding for the program includes monies designated to support data retrieval, analysis, conservation of artifacts, write-up, presentations at scholarly meetings, and the systematic publication of results. All aspects of this process are equally funded, irrespective of the specific results of any phase of the research. The proposed Serranilla Banks Project, like all similar scientific endeavors, seeks to resolve a specific set of questions that relate to human behavior as well as to other broad aspects of the scholarly endeavor of archaeology. the Center has two additional specific sets of responsibilities, which relate to both the sponsoring organization (in this example, the Pacific Geographic Society) and the Colombian government. In both cases, we recognize that the most significant information we can provide relates to the general evaluation of the sites we are investigating as cultural resources. Because, to a considerable extent, the Pacific Geographic Society has a strong interest in the nature and character of what is encountered as a financial investment, we have a special obligtion to provide them with insights into what additional stages of data retrieval might produce. In regards to the Colombian government, we feel a special obligation to provide them with relevant information that will be useful in creating policies in regard to the management of cultural resources. For more information about the project, feel free to contact: Dr. Jack S. Williams - Principal Investigator Serranilla Banks Project 1743 S. Standage Mesa, Arizona 85202 PHONE: (602) 820-5492 INTERNET: [log in to unmask] Anita Cohen-Williams; Reference Services; Hayden Library Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287-1006 PHONE: (602) 965-4579 FAX: (602) 965-9169 BITNET: IACAGC@ASUACAD INTERNET: [log in to unmask]