Problems of underwater cultural heritage research in the context of the Baltic Sea drainage basin ecology

Abstract

The article considers key issues of the underwater cultural heritage and the ways to reveal investigate and preserve it. Due to the lack of knowledge of the problem, the authors have developed a method that allows detecting the potential of the object in order to obtain the status of underwater cultural heritage in the future. These eventual objects are based on the UNESCO World Heritage List. The Baltic Drainage Sea is on the top of this List by the total number of these sites. The authors paid great attention to mark the wreck influence on ecological condition of the sea and they noticed the need of environmental monitoring. As a solution of some issues of preserving underwater cultural heritage. The term “ecology of underwater heritage” was proposed, as well as examples of international cooperation on the integration of environmental and archaeological underwater research.