Managing underwater cultural heritage at Mozambique Island: in situ conservation, mitigation and monitoring strategies for Nossa Senhora da Consolação (IDM-003) shipwreck (1608)

Mahumane, Cézar Sebastião

Managing underwater cultural heritage at Mozambique Island: in situ conservation, mitigation and monitoring strategies for Nossa Senhora da Consolação (IDM-003) shipwreck (1608)

Master Thesis

2021

Abstract

The problem of treasure hunting on underwater archaeological wrecks has been discussed since the formal development of maritime archaeology as a field and countries have been fighting against the illegal destruction of important shipwrecks and removal of scientific evidence. The underwater cultural heritage of Mozambique is no exception and is emerging from almost two decades of destructive treasure hunting that has heavily impacted this heritage, particularly around Mozambique Island and adjacent areas. In 2014, the Mozambican Government cancelled treasure hunter permits, opening up opportunities to develop proper methodologies for research on this heritage that will contribute to its management and protection. Importantly, the focus is on building capacity and developing policies and institutions concerned with underwater heritage management. This dissertation contributes to this development. First, it explores the factors impacting the deterioration of underwater cultural heritage at Mozambique Island, with a particular emphasis on the wreck Nossa Senhora da Consolação (IDM-003), lost in 1608 during a Dutch siege of the island. The operations carried out by treasure hunters on this wreck are discussed and these underpin my research on the deterioration of the site and its current preservation status. Having done this, I analyse and discuss the origin of the ship and the associated material culture in order to reinterpret and contextualize its history. The consideration of the material culture additionally contributes to identifying the gaps in the collection left by the treasure hunters. Second, the dissertation assesses environmental factors affecting the site and formulates interventions and a range of in situ preservation, mitigation and monitoring methodologies. The results and conclusion highlight both the environmental and human factors that have, and continue to influence the rate of degradation of the site and the long term actions required to mitigate this degradation

Keywords

Archaeology

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