Presenting Andalucia's Underwater Archaeological Chart

PRESENTING Andalucia’s Underwater Archaeological Chart, a catalogue charting more than 100 historical sites and the remains of 2,000 shipwrecks off the coast of Andalucia

Over the past 20 years, the Ministry of Culture and Historical Heritage, through the Andalucian Institute of Historical Heritage (IAPH), has been building the Underwater Archaeological Charter of Andalucia, which charts the records and locations of important archaeological remains in the maritime waters off the coast of Andalucia, like the wrecks of El Aguila in Almeria, Camposoto in Cadiz, Matagrana in Huelva, or Los Santos in Malaga.

The Underwater Archaeological Chart contains updated data on the sites located in continental waters and on the maritime coast of Andalucia, and there are also areas of archaeological potential, and assets related to historical shipwrecks, all information that has been processed, documented, and investigated by the Underwater Archeology Center (CAS), a unit dependent on the IAPH, based in the Spa of La Palma and the Real de Cadiz.

Throughout these two decades, research in different areas of the Andalucian coast has revealed the existence of more than 100 archaeological sites, and 128 areas of archaeological potential, with a chronology that ranges from Protohistory to Contemporary Age.

Similarly, the study of documentary sources has provided information on some 2,000 historical shipwrecks in Andalucian waters, many of which are located in the Gulf of Cadiz, which indicates, in the opinion of the CAS, not only the archaeological importance of this area, but also the need to establish specific protection measures, since areas like the Bay of Cadiz, or the mouth of the Guadalquivir, are maritime areas where numerous shipwrecks occurred, or trading ships that were coming from America, that attract large treasure hunting companies.

The documentation experience has favoured, at the same time, the development of research projects, among which ‘Carabela’ stands out, made in collaboration with the Center for Recognition of Forms and Language Technologies (PRHLT) of the Polytechnic University of Valencia and with funding from the BBVA Foundation through the call for Digital Humanities.

This was an experimental proposal made in 2019 to solve one of the Big problems posed to researchers who work on archives of manuscript historical archives: to locate among millions of documents those that are of interest for their study, saving as much time and resources as possible, through the use of new artificial intelligence technology.

In total, more than 4,500 specialists, professionals, and people interested in underwater archaeological heritage, from 12 different countries, have made use of this information, through the documentary services of the Center for Underwater Archaeology.

Inaugurated in 1998, the CAS was born, among other objectives, to document the underwater archaeological heritage of Andalucia, and to systematise its information, always starting from an idea also defended by international recommendations: its correct preservation requires prior and global knowledge, as reported by junta de andalucia.es.

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