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BRIDGET BUXTON Associate Professor History

“We have begun to collect historical data that can help archaeologists craft a white paper to ensure that indigenous stakeholders have a seat at the table when governments and courts decide the fate of historic shipwrecks.”

The Applied History Lab’s work is vital due to the devastating effects of climate change, Buxton says. “Unique shipwrecks and Neolithic sites, including sites that preserve valuable data about the evolution of today’s killer diseases, are being uncovered and destroyed at an alarming rate,” Buxton notes. “URI’s exclusive collaboration with the Israel Antiquities Maritime Unit means that our divers are sometimes ‘first on the scene’ with the Israel Antiquities Authority when new sites are exposed and threatened. Our need for additional help and resources to support these rescue efforts right now is critical.” the Israel Antiquities Authority when new sites are exposed and threatened.” - Bridget Buxton “URI’s exclusive collaboration with the Israel Antiquities Maritime Unit means that our divers are sometimes ‘first on the scene’ with

Buxton also is working with assistant history professor Ximena Sevilla, URI students and foreign colleagues on The Alcantara Project with research conducted in Portugal, Colombia and Spain. The project was formed in anticipation of the discovery of European shipwrecks containing scientific collections and cultural artifacts obtained from indigenous peoples, especially in the Americas. For example, the San Pedro da Alcantara – which sank off the coast of Portugal in 1786 with a trove of gold and silver coins, cultural objects and scientific samples from the Peruvian Andes – draws attention to the fate of culturally significant material obtained from indigenous peoples, usually by coercion. “There are no international guidelines or best practices established for involving indigenous stakeholders in the management of underwater cultural heritage or addressing their legal rights,” Buxton says. “Together with our European colleagues, we have begun to collect historical data that can help archaeologists craft a white paper to ensure that indigenous stakeholders have a seat at the table when governments and courts decide the fate of historic shipwrecks.”

-Bridget Buxton

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