Why do people remove artifacts from wrecks?

[Basking Ridge Diver]

Tell the Colorado River to replace the dirt removed from the Grand Canyon - because from what I can tell - it stole a whole lot a dirt and we need to fill it back in...

 

[manni-yunk]

My 2 cents.

I own and operate a private dive boat out of Cape May NJ. I have for several years, although a recent major upgrade in boats has given me range access that is almost unlimited.

There are a few different types of divers that dive on my crew.

1) Hunters. Mostly after lobster, fish, scallops,etc
2) Artifact guys - mostly after any brass, bronze, etc. Portholes, bells, navigation and helm equipment, etc. These guys have 2 categories:
a) Clean up the artifacts and display them
b) clean them up and find some creative use to repurpose the artifact as a conversation piece ( I myself am turning a huge 50 lb brass round piece that was likely a giant thru hull fitting on
an 1800s sailing ship into a planter for my wifes garden. It will be absolutely gorgeous when done and an artifact that nice deserves as much.
c) guys looking for an artifact to positively ID the wreck. Many of our wrecks are still not positively identified so there is an art/science to finding something to ID it. ESPECIALLY on the virgin
or rarely dove wrecks (which I have been focusing on)
3) People looking for items of monetary value. Whether its treasure, scrap metal, or a ships safe
4) People who just want to dive and don't care about any of the above.


Truthfully - I fall in the first 3 categories and move in and out of them depending on where I am running the boat to, and most often if I find nothing notable I fall into the first category.

I see ABSOLUTELY nothing wrong with recovering artifacts from ocean shipwrecks. It is better to get them before they are gone. Over the last several years I have witnessed the effects of storms and the oceans unstoppable ability to decay a ship to nothing. So its either bring it to the surface, or, it will soon be gone forever.

 

[Centrals]

We are all individual and have different idea on everything. However, I always make sure that none of my buddy will bring back any "souvenir" from a dive.

 

[BugHunterNY]

Not sure how this qualifies for political correctness.

Interesting thing today we hiked into an area in the Colorado mountains to a place I had been 10 years ago, there was a hidden little trail that we took again that led to an old site that was mined back in the 1880s. Almost everything was intact from the last time I was there and it was a huge thrill to show a new group of people, relatively new to Colorado this bit of history, to see all this stuff from more than 100 years ago. Was cool to see their excitement. Most of it is rusted junk now being out in the harsh elements for 130 years, but it's still recognizable. Had some people 'salvaged' the site for souvenirs for themselves to put in a box and be lost forever the experience today would have been completely different. There is no doubt the site has seen visits in the last 10 years since I've been there, but it sure is nice that in those 10 years it appears everyone who visited the site respected it enough to leave it alone so others could come by and get a unique experience too. I guess eventually all it will take is somebody to post it's location and enough details about it and some selfish arm chair 'salvager' will destroy it forever for everyone else. But so far it sure is nice to know that everyone who's stumbled upon it so far hasn't had the need to put their own self gratification above everyone else

Except it's different. If you're in the mountains in CO, chances are it's BLM land - where everything belongs to the government and it is actually illegal to remove any of it. Apples and Oranges.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Jared0425]

Nor he probably spent the time or effort to go out and search for them. Wrecks do not get discovered by people sitting on the keyboard. Plus even though I am "for" salvaging, I have yet to take anything of great value off any wreck. You get something big like a bell, capstan cover, compass or helm, it can cause infighting within a group of people that leads to an undesirable result. BUT when government or militant archeologists tell me what I can and cannot do and they think they own the wreck and THEY derseve to bring up stuff to rot in a wherehouse, that's where I get defiant.

To add to my poor grammar, I have been experimenting with an idea to replicate artifacts like bells and capstan covers so that everyone gets one and the original stays on the wreck.

 

[kelemvor]

2) Artifact guys - mostly after any brass, bronze, etc. Portholes, bells, navigation and helm equipment, etc. These guys have 2 categories:
a) Clean up the artifacts and display them
b) clean them up and find some creative use to repurpose the artifact as a conversation piece ( I myself am turning a huge 50 lb brass round piece that was likely a giant thru hull fitting on
an 1800s sailing ship into a planter for my wifes garden. It will be absolutely gorgeous when done and an artifact that nice deserves as much.
c) guys looking for an artifact to positively ID the wreck. Many of our wrecks are still not positively identified so there is an art/science to finding something to ID it. ESPECIALLY on the virgin

Portholes make FANTASTIC lenses in dobsonian telescopes. A porthole and a day or two's labor and you've got an excellent telescope.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

As the old saying goes, there's a time and a place for everything. Artifact recovery ... like any other resource extraction ... can be either good or bad, depending on how and where it's done. It's inappropriate (to my concern) on popular dive sites, because people go there to see those things. It's inappropriate on historical wrecks or grave sites, for reasons that shouldn't require explanation. It's inappropriate in areas where it's culturally not acceptable ... we have very few natural wrecks in my area at recreational depths, and most charter ops specifically forbid the removal of anything from those wrecks ... again, for obvious reasons.

Otherwise, I don't see the problem ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)