The archaeological duty of care: the legal, professional, and cultural struggle over salvaging historic shipwrecks

Albany Law Review, Fall, 2001 by Christopher R. Bryant

(70) See Koerner, supra note 69, at 50 (identifying scare artists as a pitfall for investors of treasure hunts).

(71) See supra notes 63-64 and accompanying text (noting Masters's discovery of the Spanish galleon); Koerner, supra note 2, at 45 (describing El Salvador as the "Holy Grail" of shipwrecks due to the riches thought to be on board).

(72) See Florida Dep't of State v. Treasure Salvors, Inc., 458 U.S. 670, 673 (1982) (detailing the court battle between Fisher and the State of Florida for ownership of the Atocha). For an interesting history of Mel Fisher, see Cobb Coin Co. v. The Unidentified, Wrecked and Abandoned Sailing Vessel, 549 F. Supp. 540, 544-48 (S.D. Fla. 1982).

(73) Treasure Salvors, Inc., 458 U.S. at 673. Five hundred fifty persons died aboard the Atocha. Treasure Salvors, Inc. v. The Unidentified Wrecked and Abandoned Sailing Vessel, 569 F.2d 330, 333 (5th Cir. 1978).

(74) Mike Harden, Lost-and Found--Treasures Off Key West, CHI. SUN-TIMES, Jan. 30, 2000, at 2, 2000 WL 6666081.

(75) Koerner, supra note 2, at 48-49 (illustrating the demand fueling the treasure hunting industry).

(76) Mullen, supra note 8.

(77) Id.

(78) Id.

(79) Koerner, supra note 2, at 49. (noting that one such replica is a syringe thought to have been used by pirates to inject mercury as a cure for syphilis).

(80) See Nancy Ann Jeffrey & Ken Bensinger, After 143 Years, A Ship of Gold Finally Arrives, WALL ST. J., Jan. 28, 2000, at B1, 2000 WL-WSJ 3015818 (discussing the end of twelve years of litigation over title to gold estimated to be worth over $100,000,000 recovered from the S.S. Central America, which sank in 1857). A prominent California sports agent obtained a large portion of the gold and will commence a massive marketing and sales campaign. Id. Sotheby's Holdings is expected to auction off another mass of the gold. Id.

(81) California v. Deep Sea Research, Inc., 523 U.S. 491, 495 (1998) (outlining the litigation surrounding the ownership of the Brother Jonathan's artifacts and their value).

(82) Yukon Recovery, L.L.C. v. Certain Abandoned Prop., 205 F.3d 1189, 1192 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, 531 U.S. 820 (2000).

(83) The Camanche, 75 U.S. 448, 449, 8 Wall. 29 (1869).

(84) See Harris, supra note 53, at 233 (stating that U.S. forces sank the submarine during World War II); Koerner, supra note 2, at 46 (noting that the submarine's treasure has yet to be retrieved).

(85) See Koerner, supra note 2, at 47-49 (chronicling the rift between commercial salvors and archaeologists).

(86) See Varmer, supra note 24, at 295 (discussing the cost-effective methods of commercial salvors that compromise the scientific, cultural, and historic value of shipwrecks); Cottrell, supra note 2, at 669 (stating that "unregulated salvage [operations] could threaten an increasing number of historic shipwrecks"); Jance R. Hawkins, Note, Reconsidering the Maritime Laws of Finds and Salvage: A Free Market Alternative, 30 GEO. WASH. J. INT'L L. & ECON. 75, 76 (1996) (discussing the conflict between salvors and archaeologists over salvors' primarily financial motivation and lack of archaeological care); Koerner, supra note 2, at 49 ("`As soon as you start talking about selling objects, you enter the commercialization of the past.... and that's something that won't be acceptable to archaeologists.'"); see also Chance v. Certain Artifacts Found and Salvaged from the Nashville, 606 F. Supp. 801, 809 (S.D. Ga. 1984), affd, 775 F.2d 302 (11th Cir. 1985) (denying plaintiffs a salvage award because they failed to conserve recovered artifacts; in fact, plaintiffs stored various items in their backyards, exposing the irreplaceable artifacts to the elements).