Archaeology, Museums, Tourism and the Environment

In this weeks class, we discussed how archaeology was a destructive science. Now that we are living in the green age, we are supposed to be more consciously aware of how our actions affect the environment. While we may be looking at UNESCO in relation to archaeological sites, UNESCO also serves to protect environmental sites like the coral reef in Australia.

Because archaeology, whether on land or underwater, is so destructive to the site, the artifacts, and even the environmental habitat, do archaeologists have an obligation to help "fix" the environment after excavation?

While excavating, do they have an obligation to be aware of the natural habitat around them? If it came between a great archaeological find and the protection of the habitat of a species, what would be the final choice?

Moreover, the tourism that is the by-product of archaeology and museums can also have a huge affect on the environment.

In Mexico, an underwater museum is being created in order to fix the damage done by tourists. On the 19th of November, sculptures will be submerged in the water in hopes of attracting algae.

"According to the park's director Jaime Gonzalez, one of the aims is to reduce the pressure on the natural habitat in other areas of the park by luring tourists away from existing coral reef, which has suffered damage from hurricanes and human activity."

The program which is funded by the Mexican government understands what a detrimental effect tourism has on the environment. However, this underwater museum is much different from others around the world. There has been support for an underwater museum in Alexandria which would showcase treasures of Cleopatra. This type of museum is much different than the one in Mexico in that it could prove to be detrimental to the ecosystems living under that water. While the museum in Mexico is trying to use art to attract tourists away from other ecosystems, like the coral reefs, an underwater museum in Alexandria would purposely attract hundreds to thousands of tourists to a single ecosystem which will then be gravely threatened.

Archaeology, museums, and tourism can work with the environment. Tourists should realize that it is their obligation to respect the environment and think about how their vacations can destroy certain habitats. Moreover, archaeologists are obligated to ensure that the environment is not harmed because our future is just as important as our past.