Within the context of the 2001 UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage, the Foundation Course specifically aimed to:
-build regional capacity in the protection and management of UCH through professional training;
-provide an effective networking and regional cooperation among partner Member States;
-and prepare Member States in the ratification and implementation of the 2001 Convention and its Annex.
Regional trainees for the Third Foundation Course on UCH consisted of representatives from Bangladesh, Cambodia, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Lao PDR, Philippines, Sri Lanka, and Thailand.
The said training was made possible under the auspices of UNESCO and the Government of Thailand, with funding from the Royal Norwegian Government.
The Centre
Most of the Third Foundation Course training was conducted in the Asia-Pacific Regional Field Training Centre on UCH located in Chanthaburi, Thailand which provided accommodation for some of the trainers and all the twenty-one trainees. It includes a classroom that houses all required facilities and equipment for lecture and discussions. It is situated within a small local fishing community which had been very useful for practical exercises especially in maritime ethnography and cultural resources identification and management. Within the vicinity are a small community park and playing fields that also offered extra-curricular activities. For six weeks, the Centre had become a home away from home for the trainees.
The curriculum’s holistic approach
The six-week intensive training program included classroom lectures with practicum as well as underwater archaeological field survey exercises.
The first weeks of the training provided a clear background of the Foundation Course through class discussions of the basic principles and concepts behind the 2001 UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the UCH. The curriculum further highlighted concepts and methods of underwater archaeology and their critical role in safeguarding UCH. Moreover the topics chosen are adapted to the Asia-Pacific regional context.
Detailed classroom discussions on subtopics of underwater archaeology and site management included underwater archaeological resource protection and management; data management; 2D and 3D site survey methods; Asian ship technology; material culture analysis; Asian ceramics; in situ protection and preservation; significance assessments and risk mitigation; and GIS. Other related topics in museology, public archaeology, and maritime ethnography were also discussed by notable individuals who are considered professionals in their respective fields of specialization.
Apart from lectures, there were also country presentations wherein trainees shared some information on the status of underwater archaeology and related legislations in their respective countries.
The Fieldwork
The most anticipated part of the training programme was the two-week archaeological field survey of the Mannok shipwreck wherein trainees applied non-invasive techniques to come up with a site map and a management plan. The wreck is located 18.0-20.0 meters underwater near Mannok Island of Klaeng District in Rayong Province, four hours away from the Centre in Chanthaburi by boat. The actual wreck site is approximately another one-hour boat ride from the district’s pier, which is around 10minutes-walk away from the hotel where participants stayed during the fieldwork.
All diving equipment and boat were provided by the Underwater Archaeology Division (UAD) of the Fine Arts Department of the Government of Thailand. Safety precautions implemented also by the UAD were adopted for the diving sessions. Apart from this, all groups were assigned a UAD buddy each for further safety concerns. Only two dives were allowed per day; one each in the morning and afternoon.
Trainees were divided in three groups to work on the bow, mid-ship and stern part of the wreck. 2D site survey methods using offsets and ties measurements, and sketching artifacts using a 2.0m by 1.0m planning frame were used. Data gathered were sufficient enough for us to produce a site map and management plan for the Mannok shipwreck site.
Trainees also successfully produced six panels of storyboards which were presented and exhibited during the closing ceremony in the UNESCO headquarters in Bangkok last March 25, 2011. The storyboards include the story of the Mannok Shipwreck based on the data gathered during the field work and some suggestions for its preservation.
A new world: “Same-same, but different”
Being part of the Third Foundation Course has its pros and cons. Considering underwater archaeology and its prospects in Philippine context is a tricky pursuit. I might not be in a good position to comment on this topic. But I can at least say that we are one step ahead because of the recent RA 10066 National Cultural Heritage Act that can be very instrumental in helping us ratify the 2001 UNESCO Convention. I really think that we have a long way to go with regards to the future and development of underwater archaeology as a discipline in the Philippines. First of all we lack financial, political, and even academic resources to provide us the necessary training, facilities, and equipment.
I might not be able to give a wise opinion on it for underwater archaeology is a new thing for me. Strange, unknown, and unsafe—such was my attitude before being “pressured” to participate in the Third Foundation Course. I myself have never expected that I would be involved in something like it. Lack of sufficient training in SCUBA diving is primarily the reason, apart from the fact that I do not have a credible background even in archaeology. And in addition, I admit that I am horribly afraid of underwater creatures. I consider them weird and therefore dangerous. This led me to presume that underwater archaeology is far more fatal than its terrestrial counterpart. After completing the training programme, I proved that I was partly right and partly wrong.
But definitely I have no regrets. I learned a lot. The experience is really overwhelming and rewarding not only in terms of the knowledge gained about underwater archaeology, archaeological resource management, and archaeology in general; but most importantly the experience I gained in working cooperatively with other trainees of diverse cultural and professional backgrounds. Of course we did have problems. But in the end, cultural and professional boundaries really did not matter when we worked as a team because, as one of my friends used to say, we are all just “same-same but different”.
Indeed the Third Foundation Course had been very successful especially in fostering an effective networking among representatives of Member States. The biggest challenge left for us concerns the sustenance of these networks and the training course itself. I do hope that the Third will not be the last. As UNESCO reminded us, the end is only the beginning. We’ve got a long way to go before truly achieving the primary goal to safeguard our underwater cultural heritage from further destruction.
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