{"id":{"repo_id":"vt","oai_identifier":"oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/111094"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/vt/oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/111094","repository":{"repo_id":"vt","name":"Virginia Tech","base_url":"https://vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"Protecting Underwater Cultural Heritage in International Waters","abstract":"Underwater cultural heritage (UCH) sites are unique in how their artifacts and archaeological contexts differ from terrestrial heritage sites, but UNESCO notes that UCH sites in less-actively regulated areas, like international waters, are at a high risk of having their material culture remains destroyed, pillaged, or commercially exploited, especially as technological innovations continue to increase access to the deep sea and its resources. International treaties like UNESCO's 2001 Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage demonstrate efforts by the international community to protect UCH, however many maritime states including the U.S. have not signed it out of a concern that the treaty oversteps the international legal framework established by the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). In order to better understand how UCH is (or is not) protected in international waters around the world, this thesis examines the threats facing UCH in international waters as well as the contemporary legal frameworks designed to protect this cultural heritage. Several solutions aimed at addressing key threats facing UCH in international waters caused by these legal and regulatory systems and which can be taken by the U.S. and international community at large are also proposed.","abstract_html":"Underwater cultural heritage (UCH) sites are unique in how their artifacts and archaeological contexts differ from terrestrial heritage sites, but UNESCO notes that UCH sites in less-actively regulated areas, like international waters, are at a high risk of having their material culture remains destroyed, pillaged, or commercially exploited, especially as technological innovations continue to increase access to the deep sea and its resources. International treaties like UNESCO's 2001 Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage demonstrate efforts by the international community to protect UCH, however many maritime states including the U.S. have not signed it out of a concern that the treaty oversteps the international legal framework established by the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). In order to better understand how UCH is (or is not) protected in international waters around the world, this thesis examines the threats facing UCH in international waters as well as the contemporary legal frameworks designed to protect this cultural heritage. Several solutions aimed at addressing key threats facing UCH in international waters caused by these legal and regulatory systems and which can be taken by the U.S. and international community at large are also proposed.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Bovee, Jordan Daniel"],"institution":"Virginia Tech","degree_name":"Master of Arts","degree_level":"masters","degree_discipline":"Material Culture and Public Humanities","degree_department":"Material Culture and Public Humanities","school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":["Knoblauch, Ann-Marie"],"committee_members":["Moseley Christian, Michelle Yvonne","Nelson, Scott G."],"year":2022,"date_issued":"2022-07-01","date_published":"2022-07-01","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:20:32Z","subjects":["Underwater Cultural Heritage","International Waters","1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea","2001 UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage"],"languages":["en"],"rights":["Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International"],"rights_urls":["http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"],"identifier_entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.other","label":"Dc Identifier Other","values":["vt_gsexam:34626"],"render_values":[{"text":"vt_gsexam:34626","href":null,"code":true}]}]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/10919/111094","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.committeechair","label":"Committee Chair","values":["Knoblauch, Ann-Marie"]},{"key":"dc:contributor.committeemember","label":"Committee Member","values":["Moseley Christian, Michelle Yvonne","Nelson, Scott G."]},{"key":"dc:contributor.department","label":"Department","values":["Material Culture and Public Humanities"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Bovee, Jordan Daniel"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2022-07-02T08:00:16Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2022-07-02T08:00:16Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2022-07-01"]},{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["Virginia Tech"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Material Culture and Public Humanities"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["masters"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Arts"]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Underwater Cultural Heritage","International Waters","1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea","2001 UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language.iso","label":"Language (ISO)","values":["en"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International"]},{"key":"dc:rights.uri","label":"Rights URI","values":["http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.other","label":"Dc Identifier Other","values":["vt_gsexam:34626"]},{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/10919/111094"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Underwater cultural heritage (UCH) sites are unique in how their artifacts and archaeological contexts differ from terrestrial heritage sites, but UNESCO notes that UCH sites in less-actively regulated areas, like international waters, are at a high risk of having their material culture remains destroyed, pillaged, or commercially exploited, especially as technological innovations continue to increase access to the deep sea and its resources. International treaties like UNESCO's 2001 Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage demonstrate efforts by the international community to protect UCH, however many maritime states including the U.S. have not signed it out of a concern that the treaty oversteps the international legal framework established by the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). In order to better understand how UCH is (or is not) protected in international waters around the world, this thesis examines the threats facing UCH in international waters as well as the contemporary legal frameworks designed to protect this cultural heritage. Several solutions aimed at addressing key threats facing UCH in international waters caused by these legal and regulatory systems and which can be taken by the U.S. and international community at large are also proposed."]},{"key":"dc:description.abstractgeneral","label":"General Abstract","values":["Underwater cultural heritage including shipwrecks, sunken port architecture, and even entire sunken cities provide important information about humanity's history of using the world's oceans and seas. Unfortunately, many of these underwater cultural heritage sites are highly at-risk of being accidentally destroyed or pillaged by people who are more interested in selling antiquities than learning about them. This problem is particularly exasperated in international waters, in which no country has the sole right to make or enforce laws to protect these cultural resources. While there are several international laws and treaties designed to protect underwater cultural heritage sites, some countries, including the U.S., have refused to sign them. To better understand why, this thesis discusses the risks facing underwater cultural heritage sites in international waters and the legal options available to help protect them. Several solutions aimed at addressing primary threats facing underwater cultural heritage sites and which the U.S. could adopt are also proposed."]},{"key":"dc:description.degree","label":"Dc Description Degree","values":["Master of Arts"]},{"key":"dc:format.medium","label":"Dc Format Medium","values":["ETD"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Protecting Underwater Cultural Heritage in International Waters"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.committeechair":["Knoblauch, Ann-Marie"],"dc:contributor.committeemember":["Moseley Christian, Michelle Yvonne","Nelson, Scott G."],"dc:contributor.department":["Material Culture and Public Humanities"],"dc:creator":["Bovee, Jordan Daniel"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2022-07-02T08:00:16Z"],"dc:date.available":["2022-07-02T08:00:16Z"],"dc:date.issued":["2022-07-01"],"dc:description.abstract":["Underwater cultural heritage (UCH) sites are unique in how their artifacts and archaeological contexts differ from terrestrial heritage sites, but UNESCO notes that UCH sites in less-actively regulated areas, like international waters, are at a high risk of having their material culture remains destroyed, pillaged, or commercially exploited, especially as technological innovations continue to increase access to the deep sea and its resources. International treaties like UNESCO's 2001 Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage demonstrate efforts by the international community to protect UCH, however many maritime states including the U.S. have not signed it out of a concern that the treaty oversteps the international legal framework established by the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). In order to better understand how UCH is (or is not) protected in international waters around the world, this thesis examines the threats facing UCH in international waters as well as the contemporary legal frameworks designed to protect this cultural heritage. Several solutions aimed at addressing key threats facing UCH in international waters caused by these legal and regulatory systems and which can be taken by the U.S. and international community at large are also proposed."],"dc:description.abstractgeneral":["Underwater cultural heritage including shipwrecks, sunken port architecture, and even entire sunken cities provide important information about humanity's history of using the world's oceans and seas. Unfortunately, many of these underwater cultural heritage sites are highly at-risk of being accidentally destroyed or pillaged by people who are more interested in selling antiquities than learning about them. This problem is particularly exasperated in international waters, in which no country has the sole right to make or enforce laws to protect these cultural resources. While there are several international laws and treaties designed to protect underwater cultural heritage sites, some countries, including the U.S., have refused to sign them. To better understand why, this thesis discusses the risks facing underwater cultural heritage sites in international waters and the legal options available to help protect them. Several solutions aimed at addressing primary threats facing underwater cultural heritage sites and which the U.S. could adopt are also proposed."],"dc:description.degree":["Master of Arts"],"dc:format.medium":["ETD"],"dc:identifier.other":["vt_gsexam:34626"],"dc:identifier.uri":["http://hdl.handle.net/10919/111094"],"dc:language.iso":["en"],"dc:publisher":["Virginia Tech"],"dc:rights":["Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International"],"dc:rights.uri":["http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"],"dc:subject":["Underwater Cultural Heritage","International Waters","1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea","2001 UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage"],"dc:title":["Protecting Underwater Cultural Heritage in International Waters"],"dc:type":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Material Culture and Public Humanities"],"thesis:degree_level":["masters"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Arts"],"thesis:institution_name":["Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:20:32Z"}