Of time and tide : the complex impacts of climate change on coastal and underwater cultural heritage

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has documented wide-ranging changes to the world's coasts and oceans, with significant further change predicted. Impacts on coastal and underwater heritage sites, however, remain relatively poorly understood. The authors draw on 30 years of research into coastal and underwater archaeological sites to highlight some of the interrelated processes of deterioration and damage. Emphasising the need for closer collaboration between, on one hand, archaeologists and cultural resource managers and, on the other, climate and marine scientists, this article also discusses research from other disciplines that informs understanding of the complexity of the interaction of natural and anthropogenic processes and their impacts on cultural heritage.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Balancing Acts : Public Access And Archaeology In The Cape Fear Civil War Shipwreck District

During the American Civil War, Wilmington, North Carolina, served as an important blockade running center for the Confederacy. The Cape Fear region's high traffic and dangerous shoals resulted in the largest concentration of Civil War shipwrecks in the world. The interpretation of these wrecks for public outreach constitutes a valuable opportunity to educate members of the public using a material culture assemblage connected with the historical framework of the Wilmington blockade. This thesis explores ways to develop public stewardship programming, specifically targeting SCUBA divers, for six shipwrecks located in the New Inlet unit of the Cape Fear Civil War Shipwreck District. The goal of this thesis is to examine the process and procedures used to balance archaeological preservation and research with public access and educational interpretation, to offer direction for the future management of the New Inlet wrecks.M.A

Climate Change, Corrosion, and Cultural Heritage: Climate Change Impacts and Strategies for Underwater Archaeological Sites

Climate change is already dramatically affecting cultural heritage around the world, but managers are challenged by limited recognition of current impacts and future risks, and even fewer avenues for adaptation. These issues are exacerbated for underwater archaeological sites with less available research on climate change impacts, and which are often overlooked by heritage managers as out of sight, out of mind. This dissertation articulates an approach for climate change responses for cultural heritage management that specifically utilizes the U.S. National Park Service (NPS) management paradigm. It presents a strategic action plan for cultural heritage and climate change response and an original conceptual framework that integrates climate adaptation science and cultural heritage management to offer a generative rubric for adaptation development and assessment. These are then applied to the iconic shipwreck site, USS Arizona, in Pearl Harbor, Hawaiʻi, to provide outcomes to support adaptation planning and future research directions at this and other submerged archaeological sites.</p

Plan the work, work the plan: An introduction to the National Park Service Climate, Science, and Disaster Response Program

The climate crisis poses significant and unprecedent threats to the resources stewarded by the National Park Service (NPS). Some impacts are already apparent, while understanding of other outcomes is still developing. While the rate and magnitude of climate change ultimately depends on worldwide management of greenhouse gas emissions, resource managers today face choices about what actions to take, despite the uncertainty. To support the mission of NPS and its cultural resource preservation goals, the Climate, Science, and Disaster Response (CSDR) Program has been developed to explore climate impacts, provide cultural resource expertise, and expand and accelerate initiatives related to cultural resources and climate change adaptation. Here we introduce the construct of the CSDR program, share the components of the program’s 2022–2025 Action Plan, and highlight initial activities

Balancing Acts : Public Access And Archaeology In The Cape Fear Civil War Shipwreck District

During the American Civil War, Wilmington, North Carolina, served as an important blockade running center for the Confederacy. The Cape Fear region's high traffic and dangerous shoals resulted in the largest concentration of Civil War shipwrecks in the world. The interpretation of these wrecks for public outreach constitutes a valuable opportunity to educate members of the public using a material culture assemblage connected with the historical framework of the Wilmington blockade. This thesis explores ways to develop public stewardship programming, specifically targeting SCUBA divers, for six shipwrecks located in the New Inlet unit of the Cape Fear Civil War Shipwreck District. The goal of this thesis is to examine the process and procedures used to balance archaeological preservation and research with public access and educational interpretation, to offer direction for the future management of the New Inlet wrecks