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Sabado sette dias de novembro foi deos
servido que/ a Nao nossa senhora da lux em que eu vinha por ca/ pitam mor fizesse naufragio nesta Costa do porto/ de porto de pim miseravel expectaculo pera uer e Contar [...] |
Saturday, seven days of November, was God served that/ the nau Our Lady of the Light in which I came as/ Captain General was shipwrecked in this coast of the harbor/ of Porto de Pim/ a miserable thing to witness and to tell about [...]. Letter from Manuel Coutinho to Manuel Canto e Castro, describing the shipwreck of the Portuguese East Indiaman Nossa Senhora da Luz, the 7th November 1615. Arquivo Histórico Ultramarino, Açores, Caixa 1, doc. 5, fl. 1
Introduction
Welcome to Spero in Deos, Arquivos e Arqueologia. Today, maritime technology has advanced to a point where shipwrecks, previously lost for centuries, can be recovered to current archaeological standards.
Traditionally, marine archaeology has been undertaken for purely academic purposes. Deeper and remoter wrecks pose a fundamental change to this purpose. The high technology, expertise, and costs involved in their recovery demand that both academic specialists and commercial interests be involved.
Marine salvage, principally in the US, has tended to polarize academics and salvagers into two camps.
Academics historically have been weary of commercial interests and have largely rejected or ignored the economic potential of an archaeology discovery.
Marine salvage firms, on the other hand, have lacked a commitment to archaeology and have not appreciated either the historical value or the added economic benefit of properly recovering and displaying ancient artifacts. A project either has been an academic effort, usually underfunded or a for-profit salvage, usually lacking commitment to archaeology.
Spero in Deos, Arquivos and Archaeology (SiD) has been designed to consolidate and promote both fields of interest, mainly in the design phase of marine archaeology projects.