STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES TO MAINSTREAM MARINE ARCHAEOLOGY IN PAKISTAN
Abstract
World has now focused on maritime heritage on account of its cultural, historic, archaeological, and scientific values. So far, most of the research is done on the land based (on-shore) component and lesser on water based (off-shore) or UCH. Worldwide, UCH still remains unsung while in the case of Pakistan, it is almost totally neglected. In the context, this paper was meant to explore the prospects of marine archaeology in Pakistan by examining the tapped, un-tapped and un-mapped potential viz-a-viz existing governance framework. Based on the overall assessment of existing gaps through SWOT analysis for the current state and future prospects of Pakistan’s marine archaeology, this paper suggests way forward for good and sustainable governance to mainstream the agenda of marine archaeology in Pakistan. Considering the potential and possible prospects based on SWOT analysis, Pakistan has a greater likelihood for the presence of rich marine archaeological resources both on-shore and off-shore. The off-shore archaeological component is still un-mapped and un-tapped in Pakistan for which a number of gaps are quite visible including the non-existent policy, vision, capacity, financial resources and the governance framework in the context of 18th amendment in national constitution of Pakistan which is particularly important for policy and legal arrangements for Shipwrecks and other UCH. These policy and legal arrangements must ensure maritime heritage protection through rewards and penalty system for effective implantation of laws and regulations, and should acknowledge the efforts for archaeological and technological advancements in underwater cultural heritage protection.
