Assessing the Namibian Underwater Cultural Heritage

Abstract

Namibia is rich in maritime and underwater cultural heritage that historically, has not been fully acknowledged by authorities, as demonstrated by the absence of a comprehensive shipwreck database. Such inaction has led to a host of problems like neglect of shipwrecks, especially those that need urgent conservation leading to either decay by natural processes or plundering by treasure hunters and vandalism because authorities are unaware of such shipwrecks. Second, this thesis investigates the conservation status of these shipwrecks along the Namibian coast, especially onshore shipwrecks that are exposed to weather elements and human accessibility. How decayed or intact are they? Through the identification of natural and human threats to Namibia`s shipwrecks; Namibian heritage authorities have the capacity to effectively initiate programs/projects to conserve shipwrecks in-situ as well as generate revenue through tourism, from such shipwrecks through shipwreck trails, etc. Third, the thesis investigates the approach of heritage authorities in managing Namibia`s underwater cultural heritage? A shipwreck database is a legal requirement for country signatories to the 2001 UNESCO Convention on the Protection of Underwater Cultural Heritage, to which Namibia is a member state. Given this background, relevant questions entail determining: how far has the country gone in legally adopting the 2001 UNESCO convention statutes and what is the role of stakeholdersin protecting shipwrecks, and how well does the current heritage legislature/Act protect shipwrecks? Although historical document analysis, addresses the role shipwreck played in pre-colonial and colonial Namibia, the role of other silent voices (such as African workers on board the ship and or use of the ship in times of war of national resistance i.e., transportation of prisoner of war, shipwrecks as places of memory, etc.) is missing. What is clear from this PhD thesis is that shipwrecks are symbolic of colonial oppression as they have traditionally been seen by many African governments (who were victims of colonial oppression in the past and are reluctant to spend resources to protect shipwreck for this reason). However, what is often ignored is that shipwrecks reflect African contributions to the economic, social and political history of Namibia in a positive way. Thus shipwrecks are possibly a symbol of unity hence the need to protect them by the government of the day.