Underwater Cultural Heritage

The Underwater Cultural Heritage is, according to the definition of the 2001 UNESCO Convention for the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage:

All traces of human existence that have a cultural, historical or archaeological character that have been under water, partially or totally, periodically or continuously, for at least 100 years, such as:

• The sites, structures, buildings, objects and human remains, together with their archaeological and natural context;
• Ships, aircraft, other means of transport or any part thereof, their cargo or other content, together with their archaeological and natural context;
• The objects of prehistoric character.

It is an extremely wealthy heritage, but at the same time fragile and vulnerable, which must be protected in the face of its conservation by future generations.