Development and Implementation of the Methodological Proposal for the National Inventory of Underwater Cultural Heritage: Pilot Phase in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia
摘要
Since 2019, the Colombian Maritime Authority (DIMAR, by its acronym in Spanish (Dirección General Marítima (DIMAR). See: https://www.dimar.mil.co/)) has created the Underwater Cultural Heritage Area to implement research and protection strategies for underwater archaeological sites in Colombia. An interdisciplinary team from the Center for Oceanographic and Hydrographic Research (CIOH, by its acronym in Spanish (Centro de Investigaciones Oceanograficas e Hidrograficas del Caribe (CIOH)—a division of DIMAR. See: https://cioh.dimar.mil.co/index.php/es/)), including archaeologists, oceanographers, and hydrographers, developed the pilot plan for the National Inventory of Underwater Heritage. The project aimed to identify underwater archaeological sites in the Bay of Cartagena de Indias by analyzing historical documents and remote sensing data. The results confirmed the presence of underwater archaeological sites in these areas. As the maritime authority, DIMAR adopted this inventory as a tool for management and protection, identifying numerous underwater archaeological sites linked to docks, ports, shipwrecks, and fortifications in Cartagena de Indias. This article presents the results of the methodology and highlights examples from the underwater cultural heritage of Cartagena de Indias.