Abstract
“The sea was our joy. Many of us who made a fresh start in maritime archaeology after graduation or as under graduates had very limited experience with the sea. Most of us weren’t able to swim adequately when we came to Galle. Apart from those living along the coast, the majority of parents still have a habit of keeping their children away from the sea, believing it to be something hazardous and unfamiliar. This is a strange assumption for a country encircled by the sea and in an era in which the world looks to the ocean as a source of unrevealed resources and treasures. For us, the endeavours of learning to swim, snorkel and dive were unfamiliar yet necessary tasks to start our careers.
Maritime archaeology grew slowly, following many pathways, touching everything around it, and linking up with friends from around the world. The development of maritime archaeology in Sri Lanka is reflected in the story of Maritime Archaeology Unit (MAU) - it is about what we did and what we had to do to preserve and manage our underwater cultural heritage for the future. Looking back 20 years to when we were new maritime archaeologists, it is clear that the diving and field work kept us together as a team and sustained us in the face of the countless barriers we endured in establishing maritime archaeology in Sri Lanka.”
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
- 1.
“aquatic resources” means all living and non-living resources contained in or beneath the medium of water [my italics].
- 2.
References
Clarke, A. C. (1964). In expedition, 6 (3) (spring) Penn Museum (pp. 19–31). USA: Pennsylvania.
Devendra, S. (2006). Maritime archaeology in a developing nation: The case of Sri Lanka. In L. V. Prott (Ed.), Finishing the interrupted voyage: Papers of the UNESCO Asia-Pacific workshop on the 2001 convention on the protection of the underwater cultural heritage (pp. 34–50). Institute of Art and Law: Leicester.
Devendra, S., & Muthucumarana, R. (2013). Maritime archaeology and Sri Lanka: Globalization, immigration, and transformation in the underwater archaeological record. In J. W. Joseph (Ed.), Journal of the Society for Historical Archaeology, volume 47 (Vol. 1, pp. 50–65). USA: The Society for Historical Archaeology.
Devendra, S., & Muthucumarana, R. (2015). Maritime archaeology in Sri Lanka: Twenty five years old and a new beginning. In S. Tripati (Ed.), The shipwreck around the world; revelations of the past (pp. 381–424). New Delhi: Delta Book World.
Gaur, A. S., Muthucumarana, R., Chandraratne, W. M., et al. (2011). Preliminary assessment of an early historic (2000 year old) shipwreck at Godawaya, Sri Lanka. The Bulletin of the Australasian Institute for Maritime Archaeology, 35, 09–17.
Green, J., & Parthesius, R. (Eds.). (1998). Galle - Port City in history. Special Publication No 2. National Centre of Excellence in Maritime Archaeology: Australia.
Muthucumarana, M. (2008). SS Conch. Newsletter of the Australasian Institute for Maritime Archaeology (AIMA), 27(02), 24–30. AIMA (Inc), Australia.
Muthucumarana, M. (2009). Godawaya: An ancient port city (2nd century CE.) and the recent discovery of the unknown wooden wreck. Newsletter of the Australasian Institute for Maritime Archaeology (AIMA), 28(03), 21–26. AIMA (Inc), Australia.
Muthucumarana, R. (2012). A fight for the blue: Maritime archaeology in a developing nation, Proceedings of the 3rd International Congress on Underwater Archaeology (IKUWA 3) (pp. 27–33). London: University College London 9–12 July 2008. Römisch-Germanische Kommission des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts and Nautical Archaeological Society.
Muthucumarana, R. (2013). The ancient wreck at Godawaya. In S. Fernando (Ed.), Maritime heritage of Lanka: Ancient ports and harbours (pp. 132–139). Colombo: Central Cultural Fund/National Trust-Sri Lanka.
Muthucumarana, R., Gaur, A. S. (2014). An early historic assemblage offshore of Godawaya, Sri Lanka: Evidence for early regional seafaring in South Asia. Journal of Maritime Archaeology, 09(1), 41–58. Springers, New York.
Parthesius, R. (Ed.). (2007). Avondster project:Excavation report of the VOC ship Avondster (pp. 109–126). The Netherlands: Centre for International heritage Activities.
Parthesius, R., Miller, K., Devendra, S., & Green, J. (Eds.). (2003). Avondster Project Report 2001–2002. The Netherlands: Amsterdam Historical Museum.
Parthesius, R., Miller, K., & Jeffery, B. (2005). Preliminary report on the excavation of the 17th-century Anglo-Dutch East-Indiaman Avondster in Bay of Galle, Sri Lanka. The International Journal of Nautical Archaeology, 34(2), 216–237.
Sharfman, J. (2017). Troubled waters: Developing a new approach to maritime and underwater cultural heritage management in sub-Saharan Africa. Leiden: Leiden University Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Muthucumarana, R. (2020). The Development of the Maritime Archaeology Unit, MUCH Management and Current Research Projects in Sri Lanka. In: Parthesius, R., Sharfman, J. (eds) Maritime and Underwater Cultural Heritage Management on the Historic and Arabian Trade Routes. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55837-6_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55837-6_2
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-55836-9
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-55837-6
eBook Packages: HistoryHistory (R0)