New Portuguese legislation on management of the underwater cultural heritage

Abstract

In 1997,with the publication of Decree-Law 117/ 97, May 14th, and Decree-Law 164/97, June 27th, the government (jfPortugal sharply revised the philosophy it had previously adopted for the management of the underwater cultural heritage. The first Decree established the complete autonomy of archaeology within the Ministry of Culture by creating the new Instituto Portugues de Arqueologia (IPA).Before this, all issues related to archaeology had been handled by a department within the larger Instituto Portugues do Patrim6nio Arquitect6nico e Arqueol6gico (IPPAR), which had complete responsibility for the cultural hefitage as a whole. For nautical and underwater archaeology, the IrA includes a specific body, the Centro Nacional de Arqueologia Nautica e Subaquatica (CNANS),which is autonomous, with its own personnel and budget. The second Decree pertains to the management of the underwater cultural heritage and repealed a previous one issued in August 1993 (Decree-Law 289/93, August 21st), that opened up broad opportunities for salvage companies and treasure hunters, triggering a reaction of outrage from the scientific community. Conflicting with the established principles ofmodern archaeology, this law was immediately contested by a pressure movement. led by the nonprofit organization Arqueonautica, which organized a public debate over this issue [1].The media showed strong interest in this debate, which was enriched by the