Underwater Archaeology
F2. Maritime Culture, Heritage, Archaeology, Art and MuseumsDefinition
Discipline emerging mid-twentieth century with George Bass at Cape Gelidonya.
Underwater archaeology is the discipline that studies submerged sites, wrecks, and landscapes using diving, remote sensing, and recovery, emerging as a scientific field in the mid-twentieth century. George Bass’s excavation of the Cape Gelidonya wreck in 1960 established that an underwater site could be dug with the same rigor as one on land. The field now spans deep-water work with ROVs and AUVs and is governed internationally by the 2001 UNESCO Convention’s standards, which favor in-situ preservation over salvage.