Advisory Council on Underwater Archaeology

08/25/2026

The Advisory Council on Underwater Archaeology is now accepting applications for two Graduate Student Associate (GSA) positions! 🌊🌊

Serve on the Board through December 31, 2028, help shape student engagement at the annual Society for Historical Archaeology (SHA) conference, contribute to outreach through the ACUA Student Newsletter & social media, and gain valuable professional development experience.

GSAs are also eligible for waived SHA conference registration, with possible travel support!

🗓 Application deadline: September 24th, 2026 Learn more and apply via the ACUA website, link in the bio!

08/21/2026

ACUA has been an active supporter of the 2001 Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage for over 25 years. As one of the Accredited NGOs, we’re excited to share the new YouTube page, with a special video celebration of International Day for UCH 2026.

https://www.youtube.com/

08/20/2026

Join ACUA in celebrating the International Day for Underwater Cultural Heritage, August 21. The International Day celebrates the essential contribution of underwater cultural heritage to science, education and the cultural identity of peoples, and all those who dedicate their time to its protection.



ACUA has been an active supporter of the 2001 Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage for over 25 years. As one of the Accredited NGOs, we're excited to share the new YouTube page, with a special video celebration of International Day for UCH 2026.

Welcome to the YouTube channel of the Accredited NGOs to the 2001 UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage!

08/09/2026

Today we will be looking at the Hoyo Negro Underwater Archaeological Project, in Quintana Roo. Mexico, and their renowned groundbreaking research on prehistoric Mexico!
This project focuses on the Yucatán Peninsula's karst systems, its ancient inhabitants, and the impacts of climate change. Specifically, looking at Hoyo Negro (Black Hole), a 55-meter cenote discovered in 2007 that holds the remains of a late Pleistocene fossil assemblage.
A female human skeleton, named “Naia,” was found in spatial association with the remains of now-extinct fauna in the submerged subterranean pit of Hoyo Negro. At 13,000-12,000 years BP, the 15 to 16-year-old woman’s skeleton represents the oldest nearly complete individual yet found in the Americas. Over 50 Pleistocene animal species have also been found at this site. These remains have presented a unique opportunity for interdisciplinary Paleoamerican and paleoenvironmental research in Quintana Roo, Mexico. Recent research efforts have focused surveying and mapping of the site, as well as detailed recording and initial sampling of various cave deposits. Structure-from-motion (SfM) photogrammetry and 3-D modeling have also been conducted at the site as a means to further research and to make 3-D visualizations of cave features accessible to the public.
In 2023, Hoyo Negro was granted the "Best Practices" distinction by UNSECO thanks to its contributions to research on prehistory in Mexico.

More information about Hoyo Negro can be found on their official website:
https://hoyonegro.ucsd.edu/

More information about Hoyo Negro's "Best Practices" classification can be found here:
https://www.unesco.org/en/underwater-heritage/best-practice-mexico

https://www.lajornadamaya.mx/quintanaroo/216408/unesco-otorga-galardon-mejores-practicas-al-proyecto-arqueologico-subacuatico-hoyo-negro-en-tulum

All information and photographs used in this post are from these websites!

08/08/2026

Our next underwater cultural heritage site takes us to the partially submerged Nan Madol Ceremonial Center on Pohnpei Island, Micronesia! Nan Madol is a series of more than 100 artificial islets that sit on top of a lagoon off the southeast coast of Pohnpei. Constructed with prismatic basalt columns, some weighing up to 50 tons, and coral boulders, this site is a masterpiece of Micronesian engineering. These islets were connected by tidal canals, and it was believed that that people used canoes to travel between the islets via these waterways. On top of these islets are the remains of stone palaces, temples, tombs and residential domains. Its construction is said to have begun
around 500 AD and continued to around 1600 AD by the Saudeleur dynasty, a vibrant period in Pacific Island culture.
Through its archaeological remains, Nan Madol is tangibly connected with Pohnpei’s continuing social and ceremonial traditions and the authority of the Nahnmwarki system. Nan Madol was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2016 and on the List of World Heritage in Danger at the same time due to environmental threats, notably vegetation that is dislodging stones in the many structures in the site through root activity and by tree fall in storms, siltation of the canals, and sea level rise.
UNESCO’s definition of UCH includes all traces of human existence, of a cultural, historical, or archaeological nature, that have been submerged underwater, either partially or totally, for at least 100 years. Since the artificial islets of Nan Madol were constructed in the inter-tidal zone of a reef flat, the gradually submerging monuments, the sea, and its landscape are all essential components to the sites’ protected heritage.

More information about Nan Madol and UNSECO can be found at: https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1503

An underwater survey of Nan Model can be found here:
http://www.themua.org/collections/files/original/1eb17efe5fb6637ec2bc964b0e7754ad.pdf

More information about Pohnpei can be found at: https://visitpohnpei.travel/nan-madol-pohnpei/

All information and photographs used in this post are from the links above!

08/07/2026

Welcome to day 4 of our mission to highlight 25 amazing underwater cultural heritage sites! Today we will be looking at the wreck of São José Paquete D’Africa, off the coast of South Africa. São José was one of the first known ships that foundered with enslaved Africans on board to be identified, archaeologically documented, excavated, and conserved, through the efforts of the Slave Wrecks Project (SWP) and collaborators
Caught in a storm, São José crashed into submerged rocks 100 meters from shore on 27 December 1794 while carrying 512 enslaved people from Mozambique en route to Brazil. A rescue was attempted, and the captain, crew and approximately half of the enslaved were saved, while the remaining Mozambican captives perished in the waves. The surviving Mozambicans were resold into slavery in the Western Cape shortly after.

The site was discovered in the 1980s by treasure hunters but was not identified until SWP began examining historical records around 2010. SWP works to conduct research on the history and legacy of global slavery through the lens of maritime archaeology, bringing together a global group of scholars, scientists, students, divers, and descendants to do work around the world.

There have been two memorials for those lost on São José. In Mossuril, Mozambique the highest-ranking traditional leader presented soil in a cowry shell box to be deposited at the wreck site in South Africa, with a ceremony dedicated to reclaiming the lost ancestors who perished in the São José. The second memorial ceremony was when divers deposited the soil from Mozambique on Clifton Beach to honor the enslaved and bring their story back into public perception. The São José wreck site has been classified as a national heritage site in South Africa.

For more information on São José Paquete D’Africa, check out this amazing website!
https://storymaps.arcgis.com/collections/3cdd0a962b234c12becce37e3725110f?item=8

More information about the Slave Wrecks Project can be found at: https://slavewrecksproject.org/

All information and photographs used in this post are from the Slave Wrecks Project!

08/06/2026

Today we will be looking at a recent addition to the World Heritage List and Jamaica's first World Heritage Site: The Archaeological Landscape of 17th Century Port Royal!
The town was first founded in the 1650s by the first British settlers of Jamaica, on a small strip of land at the mouth of Kingston Harbour in south-eastern Jamaica. Its well-protected deep-water port allowed the town to quickly become one of the most significant and wealthiest port cities of the British Empire, and the empires most important regional and transatlantic trade hub in the Americas for goods, as well as enslaved Africans.
In 1692, a devastating earthquake hit Jamaica, killing over 2,000 people and decimating the town, submerging a large portion of it under water and sand. Today, surviving traces of the port include the remains of six forts that guarded the town, some of which are now underwater, and archaeological evidence of numerous residential, religious, and administrative buildings.
As part of Jamaica's effort to promote the sunken city of Port Royal as a World Heritage Site, work on a Heritage Impact Assessment of the underwater elements of Port Royal began in 2021. During this survey, the remains of various structures were documented using photogrammetry, including those of Fort James, which was thought to have been destroyed in the 1692 earthquake. The result of this survey was a report that was part of the dossier reviewed by UNSECO's World Heritage Committee. On 12 July 2025, the site was inscribed on the World Heritage List, marking a key milestone for Jamaica. The successful inscription of Port Royal on the UNESCO’s World Heritage List has continued to bring significant attention to the rich history and heritage of this remarkable part of Jamaica.

More information about Jamaica's work with UNSECO can be found at:
https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1595/

More information about Jamaica National Heritage Trust can be found at: https://www.jnht.com/index.php

ACUA member Roberto Junco wrote a blog in 2023 on International Cooperation at Port Royal, Jamaica. Check that out here:
https://acuaonline.org/deep-thoughts/international-cooperation-at-port-royal-jamaica/

08/05/2026

Welcome to our 2nd Underwater Cultural Heritage site, a wrecked Fairey Swordfish bomber located off the coast of Sliema, Malta!
The Fairey Swordfish was a biplane torpedo bomber developed by the Fairey Aviation Company in the early 1930s. Fairey Swordfish had an uncomplicated structure, consisting of a steel-tube fuselage, wings of steel spars, and a fabric covering, which inspired its nickname ‘Stringbag.'
By the outbreak of WWII, the Fairey Swordfish was already considered obsolete, but over 2,000 of the aircraft continued to be produced until they were taken out of production in mid-1944. These aircraft were arguably one of the most effective of WWII and are accredited today with having sunk the most shipping tonnage out of any other aircraft!
Much of the anti-shipping warfare conducted by the 'Stringbag' was based from Malta, particularly with the opening of the North African Front in 1940. Axis supplies had to be shipped to the front, making Malta a strategically important location.
This wreck in particular was the result of engine failure, with the pilot being forced to ditch the plane in 1943. The wreck sits at 70 meters, with the positioning of the wreck indicating a controlled ditch.
This wreck is documented as part of the Underwater Malta Virtual Museum, which is an online platform that brings underwater cultural heritage to the surface and into the homes of the general public using 3D modeling!
More information on this wreck and Malta's underwater heritage can be found on their website:
https://underwatermalta.org/discover/

The information used in this post and the photographs are credited to the Virtual Museum Underwater Malta!

08/04/2026

Kicking off our 25 days of underwater cultural heritage, we will be taking a look at the wreck "Solen!" Located in Poland, "Solen" is showcased as part of the National Maritime Museum in Gdańsk's "Virtual Open-Air Museum of Shipwrecks in the Gulf of Gdańsk!"
This wreck represents the remains of the Swedish ship, "Solen," which sank on 28 November 1627 in the Battle of Oliwa, and is located at a depth of 15 meters off of Gdynia Redłów. "Solen" was a galleon over 30 meters long built using the caravel method. The ship was sunk when the Swedes blew it up by detonating gunpowder in the powder chamber to prevent the vessel from being boarded during the battle. The wreck was first discovered on October 20, 1969, by the Polish Ship Rescue, and has been studied since the 1970s, with over 6,000 artifacts being recovered from the site. In 1980, the excavated wooden structure of the wreck was raised and transported to a safer location on the Bay of Gdańsk, where it is seen in the photogrammetric model.
In 2015, the National Maritime Museum in Gdańsk began the aforementioned virtual museum project. One of the outcomes of this two-year project is a website containing photogrammetric 3D models of wrecks from the Gulf of Gdansk, along with their descriptions and additional documentation. As of present, there are 23 wrecks available in this open-air museum, including "Solen!"
This website and the information used in this post can be found at: https://wsw.nmm.pl/wraki/
More information on the protection of Poland's Underwater Cultural Heritage from the perspective of the guidelines of the UNESCO 2001 Convention can be found at:
https://nmm.pl/en/2023/11/17/protection-of-polands-underwater-cultural-heritage-from-the-perspective-of-the-guidelines-of-the-unesco-2001-convention-history-and-future-prospects/

All photographs belong to the National Maritime Museum in Gdańsk!

08/04/2026

Join ACUA this month as we celebrate the 25th anniversary of the UNESCO 2001 Convention on the Protection of Underwater Cultural Heritage and the International Day for Underwater Cultural Heritage!
The 2001 Convention is the only international legal framework dedicated to the protection of underwater cultural heritage, establishing worldwide standards for the safeguarding of this important legacy.
To highlight the impact of the 2001 Convention over the past 25 years, we will be showcasing 25 amazing Underwater Cultural Heritage sites over the next month!

Images are from ACUA's Photograph Contest Archive!