Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 January 2017
Because fresh-water dams are flooding areas faster than archaeologists can investigate them, it has become urgent to develop a method of underwater archaeological research. Some technical equipment, such as “scuba” and other devices used by amateur divers, is already available. This, together with specialized techniques, some already developed, makes it possible to carry on archaeological research under water. The action of water is not always destructive. In fact, certain kinds of lakes act to preserve objects, either organic or metallic, which would be destroyed out of water. The objective of underwater research, then, would be twofold: (1) to recover data endangered by too long exposure to the destructive action of water, and (2) to recover data protected by the preservative action of water.
Presented in modified form at the 58th Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association, Mexico, December, 1959.