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Explorer, History Channel Producer Accuse UNESCO of Bias, Efforts to Suppress the Truth

7/24/2015

43 Comments

 
Regular readers will remember that back in May adventurer Barry Clifford, 70, announced that he had discovered the wreck of pirate Capt. Kidd’s Adventure Galley in the territorial waters of Madagascar and presented a large chunk of what he claimed was Kidd’s silver as proof. Now a new report from UNESCO conclusively demonstrates that Clifford’s claims are false. UNESCO investigators determined that the “silver” was actually a chunk of lead from some long-ago ballast, and no evidence of a shipwreck appeared at all. The remains identified as a ship are in fact broken parts of the old port. Clifford, they said, provided no evidence that anything he found was related to Kidd, or even from the same time period. This, however, is not the interesting part.
The interesting part is that Clifford and an independent producer working for the History Channel (yes, them again) are crying foul and accusing UNESCO of trying to suppress the truth and being biased against Clifford’s unorthodox style of self-aggrandizing “discovery.” This is because UNESCO specifically accused Clifford of hyping the find in the media without following the protocols of the 2001 Convention on the Protection of Underwater Cultural Heritage, to which Madagascar is a signatory:
The work of the film team and its lead‐explorer, undertaken in spring 2015, as well as prior work by the same explorer, was distinguished by a media‐led approach, which has not respected the regulations of the 2001 Convention, and which jeopardized the scientific understanding of the sites concerned and the preservation of the artefacts recovered.
The 2001 Convention requires underwater archaeology to be conducted by qualified archaeologists. Neither Clifford nor any member of his team is an archaeologist.

UNESCO previously determined that Clifford’s most famous find, his alleged discovery of the Columbus’s Santa Maria, was actually a ship from around 1700.

Sam Brown, a filmmaker producing a feature on the discovery for the History Channel, did not take kindly to having his profit center questioned by an international body. He told the AFP that “UNESCO will attempt to discredit Barry Clifford by whatever means they can.” He then accused UNESCO of operating without transparency and of not looking in the right place. As the History Blog noted, this is rather ironic given that Clifford admitted that he had not been transparent with reporters and hid the fact that he had never tested the supposed “silver” before announcing it was part of Captain Kidd’s treasure.

For his part, Clifford maintains that the lead bar might really be silver and that we can’t know for sure whether the UNESCO-cited tests were accurate—a conspiratorial position very similar to that of several other History Channel stars. He further claims that UNESCO has an anti-American and anti-British bias that led them to conspire against him—again like some History Channel stars who accuse various agencies of secretly being in the employ of Freemasons, Catholics, or the Jews. Clifford told the Washington Post that the attacks on his evidence-free conclusions are “asinine” and “political.” The Post dryly notes that Clifford fraudulently represented one of his colleagues, John de Bry, as an archaeologist despite having no degree in the field, and that he turned on de Bry the moment de Bry began helping UNESCO unravel the Kidd story, decrying de Bry as a fraud despite being able to produce no evidence beyond his own misrepresentations.

Clifford shares one more similarity with the stars of the History Channel: He believes he can determine facts just by thinking about them, saying he identified the debris off Madagascar as the Adventure Galley based on intuition. “Intuition means a lot when you’re looking for things and discovering things.”

43 Comments
Clete
7/24/2015 03:33:13 am

A couple of days ago I was planting a tree. I dug a hole in my yard and found a rock with odd scratches on it. I am convinced it is the find of the century and will prove that Henry Sinclair visited Utah and left a land claim. I know this to be true by "intuition". I showed the rock to my dog, who agrees with me. He sniffed at it, looked at me and wagged his tail, if that isn't agreement then I don't know what is.

Reply
Uncle Ron
7/24/2015 04:50:15 am

My dog was watching me as I read your post. "Arf," she said. I think we have a consensus.

Reply
Max
7/24/2015 11:12:39 am

My cat rolled his eyes and stalked off. But you know they're part of the conspiracy, so his disagreeing actually proves you're right.

Uncle Ron
7/24/2015 04:58:57 am

There are several simple lab tests which can distinguish between silver and lead. Clifford is just being obdurate.

Reply
V
7/25/2015 02:55:36 pm

Having seen both lead and silver in any number of states, they really don't even LOOK that much alike. Just because it's grey and metallic doesn't make it silver. I suspect that "ignorant" is probably a better description than "obdurate."

Reply
Walt
7/24/2015 05:02:17 am

I can see how the TV producer would think there's a bias against him, since they actually included their bias in the official report available here:

http://www.unesco.org/new/fileadmin/MULTIMEDIA/HQ/CLT/pdf/Rapport_Madagascar_EN_public.pdf

Stunningly, it includes the line, "Archaeological research should not be undertaken for the sole purpose of producing a film and filling it with content."

They shouldn't be giving a damn why archaeological research is performed if it's done properly. The rest of the report sticks to science, and explains what was done improperly in this case.

Reply
spookyparadigm
7/24/2015 06:02:14 am

Wrong.

Archaeological resources are non-renewable (well, we're making more now, but you know what I mean). Digging them up for no good reason has and does occur, and in the past particularly, it occurred under the banner of legitimate archaeology for all sorts of reasons that would not be reputable today.

Further, archaeological projects are shaped by the reasons they are done. Even projects that are constrained by being done to test an area in advance of construction will have professional archaeologists who will understand the local and larger importance of potential finds in the area, and will be able to salvage information that is going to otherwise be lost.

You can't go back and redig something that has already been dug up. Archaeology is destructive. That's why we spend so much time recording information because we can never go and get it back. This is why looting without that information is so destructive.

So, if you don't care about evidence of the human past well then fine, do whatever you want. Otherwise, you should have a good reason for destroying the context of archaeological evidence, even if you are doing your best to record it as you do.

One could work with television to create a decent research design. But given the track record of television as amply demonstrated by this blog, that takes an effort and investment that is rarely going to be provided.

Reply
Walt
7/24/2015 06:18:09 am

No, it's absolutely not wrong. Those who want to know as much as possible about past civilizations should rejoice at the thought of a thousand TV films per year being funded and produced, as long as the research is done properly which doesn't seem to be the case here.

I can see just how strong the bias must be in the community based on your comments. That's just bizarre. and not logical. We need to wrestle the science away from people who believe what you just wrote.

spookyparadigm
7/24/2015 06:22:01 am

Wait a minute, let me get this straight.

Many of your posts on this site are to the effect of "Well, if TV wants to tell stories that aren't true, who cares, it is just tv."

But now, everyone should be happy for tv to take over scientific investigation.

I see.

Good day.

Walt
7/24/2015 06:38:59 am

Take over scientific investigation? That's quite dramatic. Not in any way factual or an accurate assessment of the situation, but dramatic.

They funded a dig to film it. That's it. They hired the wrong experts, but it could be done properly without destroying the archaeological universe.

spookyparadigm
7/24/2015 06:07:11 am

Or as the WaPo article put it

"What Clifford claims to be Captain Kidd’s ship, UNESCO says is probably broken-down harbor construction. Meanwhile, the organization said the artifacts that have been taken from several shipwrecks at the site have been mixed up and mismanaged. Some of the shipwreck sites have been irrevocably damaged, which threatens to make it impossible to make any definitive statements about their historical origins, Guerin said."

Reply
Walt
7/24/2015 06:22:21 am

That's just called bad work no matter who funded it or why.

Uncle Ron
7/24/2015 09:41:18 am

Walt- there's nothing wrong with sponsoring a dig to film it for a TV show. The problem, which I think Spooky alluded to earlier, is that proper archeology is excruciatingly slow - as in years of painstaking (read: BORING) digging, scraping, brushing and recording on even a small site. It is unlikely that a commercial entity would commit the time and patience to filming a dig (or its under-water equivalent), and then the years of research and evaluation time afterwards, before producing the broadcast product. TV wants a couple of guys with spades to turn over some sand and find King Tut's treasure; after a strategically timed commercial break,. of course.

Walt
7/24/2015 10:22:13 am

I agree with all of that, but spooky went a lot further implying a dig for a TV film was being done for no good reason, and that the missing reason behind the dig is why it shouldn't be done.

rhw
7/24/2015 09:28:51 am

can you identify any "archaeological research . . . undertaken for the sole purpose of producing a film" that was properly performed? i believe the motive underlying the research will necessarily shape the manner in which the research is performed and research performed for the "sole purpose" of generating a television special will inevitably be performed improperly--but then, i'm not a history channel apologist.

Reply
Walt
7/24/2015 10:14:11 am

I don't believe I've ever heard of it being done before. I've seen digs on PBS, but I suspect those digs were happening with or without the cameras, but I have no evidence of that.

The quote from the report wasn't specific to the History channel, FWIW, or specific to bad work. It equally applies to good archaeological work done for PBS if it was undertaken for the sole purpose of producing a film.

David Bradbury
7/24/2015 11:35:31 am

The nearest thing would be the British TV series (with some US offshoots) 'Time Team', which had a fairly rigid format of 3-day exploratory investigations. What made it acceptable to archaeologists was the experience and academic status of the core team, combined with the use of specialists (both in the period/purpose of the site, and in the history of the relevant locality).

Walt
7/24/2015 11:50:15 am

I have to admit, the closest thing I can think of would be exactly the type of programming spookyparadigm was talking about... shows like Diggers and American Diggers. They trampled over sites salvaging artifacts for money. They didn't really do any archaeology, but they should have.

I haven't seen the show you're talking about. Three days isn't long, but I'm sure I'd enjoy it if they were doing solid work.

David Bradbury
7/24/2015 08:24:05 pm

'Time Team' was an extraordinary TV success, running for 20 seasons until shortly before the death of its lead archaeologist, Mick Aston.
http://www.archaeology.co.uk/articles/features/mick-aston-time-team-remembers.htm
Quotation from the above link:
"Mick’s adamant insistence that Time Team should follow standard archaeological protocols extended to his demand that C4 should cover the costs of full archaeological reporting on all the digs. This hard-won battle was a key factor in making the series acceptable to archaeologists in the early years when many doubted it. For the first few years this caused endless headaches for him, but his dogged insistence means there are now a fantastic series of reports on scores of sites of all dates and types – more than many units achieve."

There was a US version on PBS:
http://www.pbs.org/time-team/home/

Only Me
7/24/2015 11:07:47 am

You should have included the context of the line, Walt. Taken in full, it isn't as biased as you think:

"It is surprising that in this case it was not archaeologists seeking an authorization for archaeological research during which a documentary film of their work was to be carried out, but a TV production company that solicited a filming permit and then paid for a team to undertake excavation work. This approach is extremely risky because the purpose of the project is the realization of the film. Thus, the film becomes a priority, not the archaeological research. Archaeological research should not be undertaken for the sole purpose of producing a film and filling it with content."

Let's be more honest with the quotes, please.

Reply
Walt
7/24/2015 11:58:43 am

But, the context doesn't affect the final sentence at all or I would've included it. That last sentence stands alone. And, to me, it can't even be extrapolated from the previous sentences. That's why it struck me as not belonging. They literally go from "this approach is extremely risky" to "thou shalt never do so" all in one paragraph. They should've stopped right before the sentence I quoted.

And I did include a link to the full 59 page document that I expected anyyone interested would read. I wasn't hiding the context.

Only Me
7/24/2015 12:27:52 pm

"But, the context doesn't affect the final sentence at all"

Yes, it does.

"That last sentence stands alone."

No, it doesn't.

"They literally go from 'this approach is extremely risky' to 'thou shalt never do so' all in one paragraph."

No, they don't. The proof is in the first line of the paragraph:

"It is surprising that in this case it was not archaeologists seeking an authorization for archaeological research during which a documentary film of their work was to be carried out"

UNESCO isn't against filming, it's against the type of filming that jeopardizes archaeological sites in favor of the filming itself. If a documentary can be produced that, as you said, "could be done properly without destroying the archaeological universe", there is no problem. Unfortunately, UNESCO found a lot of irresponsible behavior during October Film's time at the site. UNESCO explicitly asked that the true nature of the ingot be released as widely as possible, to prevent the potential looting of the site due to the hype that surrounded its discovery.

You weren't hiding the context, and I never said you were, but you did cherry-pick a specific line to support your argument. That's why I felt the context was important.

Walt
7/24/2015 12:54:10 pm

I'm not making any argument.. They literally say that if a good team of archaeologists films a documentary of themselves doing solid work, then it's only acceptable if it wasn't the idea of the TV people first. If it was the idea of the archaeologist, it's fine. I just find that bizarre. I never knew scientists could be so emotional.

It just isn't logical. The logical conclusion to a paragraph containing the phrase "this approach is extremely risky" would be "extreme care should be taken".

Shane Sullivan
7/24/2015 01:14:20 pm

Actually, Walt, they said that it shouldn't be done "for the sole purpose" of producing a film and filling it with content, not that it shouldn't be done if producers come up with the idea. The implication is that if film production is your number one priority, proper care is secondary at best, and that's dangerous.

I'm sure UNESCO would be just as unhappy if it was a licensed archaeologist rather than a wannabe adventurer who decided to do a slapdash dig just for TV ratings.

Only Me
7/24/2015 01:27:28 pm

If you're not making an argument, why are you defending your misrepresentation of what was stated in the report? For that matter, why are you still misrepresenting that statement with:

"They literally go from 'this approach is extremely risky' to 'thou shalt never do so' all in one paragraph" and "They literally say that if a good team of archaeologists films a documentary of themselves doing solid work, then it's only acceptable if it wasn't the idea of the TV people first. If it was the idea of the archaeologist, it's fine."

That isn't what they said; it's your interpretation based on your agreement with the accusation of bias:

"I can see how the TV producer would think there's a bias against him, since they actually included their bias in the official report".

Walt
7/24/2015 01:43:43 pm

Wow, I can't believe anyone is actually arguing. Their unqualified statement is clear: "Archaeological research should not be undertaken for the sole purpose of producing a film and filling it with content."

And, again, they include no qualifiers in that statement. They actually care about the reason for a dig, as spookyparadigm confirmed. They may have intended to only speak of sloppy salvage work done by non-archaeologists, but they didn't.

Not the Comte de Saint Germain
7/24/2015 02:06:50 pm

"…the SOLE purpose…" they said. I agree with Shane's interpretation of that phrase.

Only Me
7/24/2015 02:09:32 pm

Again, context is important. There was no need for qualifiers in their last statement because of the two lines preceding it:

"This approach is extremely risky because the purpose of the project is the realization of the film. Thus, the film becomes a priority, not the archaeological research."

That applies to any filming that places sites UNESCO seeks to protect at risk. I don't see how you're not making the connection.

Walt
7/24/2015 03:59:04 pm

An unbiased follow-up line to those 2 sentences would be: "Therefore, we encourage TV film producers wishing to produce archaeological content to ensure strict compliance with our guidelines and exercise extreme caution to avoid these pitfalls."

They clearly never allow for the fact that good, solid work could result from a TV producer paying a crew to gather a film's worth of content. It's just a bias. And it doesn't even seem to be one they're trying to avoid admitting. The first sentence makes it blatant and obvious. They don't like the reason for the dig to begin with, whether it was done properly or not.

History isn't likely to ever produce valuable content so they're covered there, but it could happen on non-commercial TV.

Only Me
7/24/2015 05:06:43 pm

You're still trying to justify your charge of bias-which shows you place more weight in Brown's claims than the report-by assigning a motive that isn't true. I'll even prove it for you.

You said, "They don't like the reason for the dig to begin with, whether it was done properly or not." Clearly, you've chosen to ignore this finding:

"According to Rule 9 of the Annex of the Convention and prior to any activity directed at underwater cultural heritage, a project design for an activity must be developed and submitted to the competent authorities for authorization and appropriate peer review. No planned intrusive activity directed at underwater cultural heritage shall be undertaken without such a project design. No such project design has however been submitted."

This was important because UNESCO discovered October Films, through Clifford, was excavating the sites WITHOUT PERMISSION. As a result, the Ministry of Culture and Crafts suspended filming and diving until the team agreed to comply with the Convention. Of course, by that time, the damage had already been done.

What we have is an organization holding a dishonest film company and an amateur that lied about a team member's credentials accountable for their actions. Now, Brown and Clifford are trying to save face by complaining about suppression and you swallowed their bull hook, line and sinker.   


Shane Sullivan
7/24/2015 06:37:36 pm

If I may interject again, I don't think Walt was defending Clifford. I think he's saying it's theoretically possible for a production company to go in and conduct a responsible archaeological dig.

But again, I don't think UNESCO was condemning documentary filmmaking. I think if a filmmaker is intent on preserving whatever dig site he's upsetting, then it can't be said that he's doing anything "for the sole purpose of producing a film and filling it with content." It's at least tied with preserving cultural heritage.

Only Me
7/24/2015 06:56:51 pm

Don't get me wrong, Shane. I'm not saying Walt is defending Clifford.

I think it's ridiculous he's accusing UNESCO of bias due to a single line from a single paragraph within the report. It obviously became involved after October Films finished its project.

Bob Jase
7/24/2015 05:42:58 am

"Clifford maintains that the lead bar might really be silver and that we can’t know for sure whether the UNESCO tests were accurate"

Seriously, has he never heard of the advance technological creation called a touchstone?

Reply
Walt
7/24/2015 05:48:59 am

Not to mention, they weren't "UNESCO tests". It was tested independently by two different (non-UNESCO) experts.

He declared his ingot to be silver after visually comparing it to a previously-recovered silver ingot and deciding they looked the same.

His ingot, which tests indicate is 95% lead, is actually stamped "95".

Reply
David Bradbury
7/24/2015 07:45:23 am

- and Archimedes lived well over 2,000 years ago (or was Clifford afraid to get the ingot wet?)

Ned Lowe
7/25/2015 07:54:39 am

The Facts: Having employed notorious French Treasure Hunters using metal detector and dredge(s) UNESCO confused a 17th shipwreck for a dock ! Moreover, UNESCO archaeologists didn't recognize the another shipwreck UNDER the wreck they claimed to have taken wood samples...ooops !!

But, the tip of the ice-burgh for UNESCO archaeology. Indeed, Organization that destroyed the most important shipwreck in the world.


Alex Hidred'd story:

OBSERVATIONS OF UNESCO MISSION ON ILE SAINTE MARIE
21/6/2015
By ALEX HIDRED: INDEPENDENT ARCHAEOLOGICAL OBSERVER

INTRODUCTION
My name is Alex Hildred and I am an experienced Marine Archaeologist who has been working in the field on shipwrecks for the last 36 years. I was flown in to Madagascar to act as an independent observer to the UNESCO mission at the request of the British government. I have been forcibly prevented from fulfilling my role. Here is my report:

I arrived at the site at approximately 12.30 pm on 21st June 2015. I immediately observed two divers in the water due to the presence of sets of bubbles. A dive boat nearby had a dredge on board, with hose over the side. Other than the two local men in the boat there was no obvious shore-watch, and no one to help divers in and out of the water. This is unsafe diving practice. A number of diving cylinders and weight belts were gathered between the museum and the shoreline. A (local) woman with a film camera was however sitting on the wall close to the diving cylinders.

We looked for the presence of team members elsewhere around the front of the museum, none visible. We proceeded into the museum foyer, and noted equipment on the ground floor suggesting that the UNESCO diving team were using this as a base of operations. The laboratory door on the ground floor was locked, so I called up the stairs asking whether anyone was there. No one answered. We walked out again and looked towards the site, divers still in the water. It started to rain, so sought refuge in the museum again. Within several minutes two individuals came downstairs, one the project photographer, and the second [identified to me later as John De Bry]. I introduced myself to him, and he said he would go up and find Michel, L’Hour [Expedition Leader] however he did not offer his name.

About fifteen minutes later Michel L’Hour appeared, half-dressed in a diving suit. I said that I was present as an independent observer with the support of the UK Department of Culture. His first question was whether I had a permit to dive independently (making it obvious that I could not be appended to his team even for a tour of the site). He said clearly that he could proffer no information and that all his conclusions had to go to UNESCO first, he offered this before I posed any questions. This demonstrates to me a clear lack of transparency.

INFORMATION GAINED ABOUT THE SITE
In spite of Mr. L’Hour’s indifferent attitude, I persisted and asked several questions – what did he think of the sites. He said that, although visibility was about 5cm, in his view there were at least three wrecks, and he had labeled these St Marie 1, 2 and 3. I asked whether he had done any remote sensing, this was not answered. I asked whether he was doing any excavation (a pump hose was clearly visible). He answered that their strategy was to photograph the site pre-disturbance, then to dig test pits to look at stratigraphy and depth of burial. I could see no evidence of any electronic measuring equipment.

I asked about whether there was any obviously recent disturbance, to which he replied ‘absolutely not’. He said he could see clearly the work that had been done at least six weeks ago, he said that this was obvious. He categorically stated that there was nothing newly exposed.

Regarding stratigraphy, he said that there was a lot of surface trash above the site, but he did not offer any details, other than there was clearly stratigraphy present. In my personal opinion, it would be challenging to impossible to put a time frame on when the last disturbance had occurred without at least a set of pictures after the site had been restabilised six weeks ago, and without monitoring the rate of silt dispersal over the site naturally. In his position, I could never have been so definite about the rate of sedimentary deposition. This actually suggests that the UNESCO team are selectively using information provided to them without verification.

He indicated that without a permit I could not see the field laboratory, and then he openly criticized the lab. I replied that, as I understand it) it is currently only set up to be a passive holding (first aid conservation rather than active conservation) facility, and that the conservator brought out by October Filmsto upgrade the facility and train a local to continue monitoring treatment was denied access. As far as I understand, all the equipment for this is currently on sh

Reply
Ned Lowe
7/25/2015 08:03:37 am

Continued:

He indicated that without a permit I could not see the field laboratory, and then he openly criticized the lab. I replied that, as I understand it) it is currently only set up to be a passive holding (first aid conservation rather than active conservation) facility, and that the conservator brought out by October Filmsto upgrade the facility and train a local to continue monitoring treatment was denied access. As far as I understand, all the equipment for this is currently on shore following the suspension of activities imposed on the team funded by October Films.

I have seen photographs which indicate that all the finds are clearly labeled and stored in appropriate holding solutions (some water and some in sodium hydroxide). I think that the criticism of the laboratory in this way was unnecessary and provocative.

Mr. Hour suggested that we should conclude as they had work to do, so we went outside to watch operations. The time was about 1.15pm.

Observations of work on site
All diving observed was carried out on SCUBA and the “buddy” system necessary for safe diving practice was not being strictly adhered to.

Shortly afterwards the two divers surfaced, and there was a break for at least an hour, until a single diver went into the water. He carried a surface marker buoy, and clearly went to several places; perhaps he was putting a surface marker buoy on a second site.

Whilst the first diver was in the water (alone) the boat carrying the dredge came ashore. The dredge and several cylinders/ hoses were offloaded and put into a Landrover. At 2.30pm two other divers prepared to go in the water. The boat, which had carried the dredge, left the area.

The site photographer entered the water, possibly to photograph the second site. He was followed by several pairs of divers during the course of the afternoon. The diver from the Ministry of Culture had a problem submerging; and with a loose cylinder was left unaided in the surf zone. This caused me concern and I was prepared to intervene to assist.

As an observer I was quite worried, he did not seem very happy in the water, and spent less than ten minutes under the water. I would have put him with an experienced diver for his own safety.

HARRASSMENT AND INTIMIDATION
At this stage a new person [since positively identified as General Alphonse Dieudonne from The Ministry of Culture] arrived (not in uniform), and without announcing who he was, he asked (in a very aggressive manner) whether we had permits to be in the area. I responded saying I thought it was a public museum and we were on public ground. We asked whether we needed a permit to be on public domain, to which he responded, the museum is closed and “If this how you want to play this game, I will call the Minister’ (of Culture). We were not near the museum at this stage, but very close to the water and moored ships. Approximately forty minutes later three gendarme arrived and we were escorted off the site and back to our hotel. This was at approximately 4pm. For over forty minutes our passports were inspected and details were recorded, and I had to ask for my passport several times before it was returned. The entire episode was intimidating.

OCTOBER FILMS’ ARCHAEOLOGY
Upon my arrival on Ile Sainte Marie, I had been shown all the work previously undertaken by the archaeologist working for October Films, Dr. Claudio Lozano. This included side-scan, magnetometry and sub-bottom profiling data with close base lines, over a substantial portion of the lagoon. I was also shown the photographs of the finds from a test pit to assess the stratigraphy of one of the wrecks; these are the objects currently in holding solutions within the field lab. This is a comprehensive body of work.

I was also shown images of exposed timbers on the wreck sites, which has caused grave concern recently. Members of the October Films team have stated on the record that these timbers have been exposed since their expedition concluded and demonstrates clearly that looting has taken place. I have seen photographs of the timbers and understand there is a post-disturbance video of how the wreck sites were left by the October Films expedition.

MY CONCLUSIONS
I cannot understand that a team that has been brought out specifically to look at the nature of and threats to the site has not made the effort to look at all the data gathered so far, or even make contact with the archaeologist and conservator who are still on the island and at their disposal. Part of the remit of the conservator was to train someone here to monitor the objects, this has been actively blocked. From my interpretation it is a travesty that the conservator brought in has been unable to fulfill his role, and the plan for continued sustainability of the artefacts so far recovered is being prevented from being implemented.

In my view, any conclusions put forward in UNESCO’s report regarding the ongo

Reply
Ned Lowe
7/25/2015 08:07:53 am

Continued

MY CONCLUSIONS
I cannot understand that a team that has been brought out specifically to look at the nature of and threats to the site has not made the effort to look at all the data gathered so far, or even make contact with the archaeologist and conservator who are still on the island and at their disposal. Part of the remit of the conservator was to train someone here to monitor the objects, this has been actively blocked. From my interpretation it is a travesty that the conservator brought in has been unable to fulfill his role, and the plan for continued sustainability of the artefacts so far recovered is being prevented from being implemented.

In my view, any conclusions put forward in UNESCO’s report regarding the ongoing threats to the site - drawn without looking at the huge corpus of photographic evidence, assessed in bad visibility, over a short period of the time (three or four days maximum) – will be detrimental to the shipwrecks. Furthermore, the artefacts so far recovered will suffer without ongoing monitoring and professional intervention. The site where these shipwrecks lie has enormous potential and the project design as shown to me by the October Films team is comprehensive, achievable and should not be dismissed without good reason. Their work to date stands up to close archaeological scrutiny and it is incomprehensible to me that it has not been considered by the UNESCO team.

Reply
Tony
7/30/2015 06:00:57 am

If I read that right, this fellow, who just showed up without warning and without permission, wanted to upgrade the facility and have someone train a local to continue monitoring treatment?

Like General Dieudonne, I too would be wary, if not a bit cracky.

Reply
Tony
7/30/2015 06:02:58 am

That should've been "cranky" not "cracky." As the Brits say, crikey!

Ashley M. Heidi Carter link
7/29/2015 06:05:25 pm

What? No link to the original article with Clifford's claims? Should anyone be surprised if it's about the children's book about a big red dog?

Reply
gary gianotti
9/14/2015 08:25:04 am

So why is there no mention of the ivory Jesus in the report?

Reply
Wait, what?
9/20/2015 03:01:18 am

Of all the cockamamie nonsense! Any credibility that Mr. Clifford ever had was lost when he teamed up with Scott Wolter, the "History Channel's" current kook de jour. It is amazing that anyone could buy into this silliness.

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        • Travels of Sir John Mandeville
        • Yazidi Revelation and Black Book
        • Al-Biruni on the Great Flood
        • Voyage of the Zeno Brothers
        • The Kensington Runestone (Hoax)
        • Islamic Discovery of America
        • The Aztec Creation Myth
      • Lost Civilizations >
        • Atlantis >
          • Plato's Atlantis Dialogues >
            • Timaeus
            • Critias
          • Fragments on Atlantis
          • Panchaea: The Other Atlantis
          • Eumalos on Atlantis (Hoax)
          • Gómara on Atlantis
          • Sardinia and Atlantis
          • Santorini and Atlantis
          • The Mound Builders and Atlantis
          • Donnelly's Atlantis
          • Atlantis in Morocco
          • Atlantis and the Sea Peoples
          • W. Scott-Elliot >
            • The Story of Atlantis
            • The Lost Lemuria
          • The Lost Atlantis
          • Atlantis in Africa
          • How I Found Atlantis (Hoax)
          • Termier on Atlantis
          • The Critias and Minoan Crete
          • Rebuttal to Termier
          • Further Responses to Termier
          • Flinders Petrie on Atlantis
        • Lost Cities >
          • Miscellaneous Lost Cities
          • The Seven Cities
          • The Lost City of Paititi
          • Manuscript 512
          • The Idolatrous City of Iximaya (Hoax)
          • The 1885 Moberly Lost City Hoax
          • The Elephants of Paredon (Hoax)
        • OOPARTs
        • Oronteus Finaeus Antarctica Map
        • Caucasians in Panama
        • Jefferson's Excavation
        • Fictitious Discoveries in America
        • Against Diffusionism
        • Tunnels Under Peru
        • The Parahyba Inscription (Hoax)
        • Mound Builders
        • Gunung Padang
        • Tales of Enchanted Islands
        • The 1907 Ancient World Map Hoax
        • The 1909 Grand Canyon Hoax
        • The Interglacial Period
        • Solving Oak Island
      • Religious Conspiracies >
        • Pantera, Father of Jesus?
        • Toledot Yeshu
        • Peter of les Vaux-de-Cernay on Cathars
        • Testimony of Jean de Châlons
        • Rosslyn Chapel and the 'Prentice's Pillar
        • The Many Wives of Jesus
        • Templar Infiltration of Labor
        • Louis Martin & the Holy Bloodline
        • The Life of St. Issa (Hoax)
        • On the Person of Jesus Christ
      • Giants in the Earth >
        • Fossil Origins of Myths >
          • Fossil Teeth and Bones of Elephants
          • Fossil Elephants
          • Fossil Bones of Teutobochus
          • Fossil Mammoths and Giants
          • Giants' Bones Dug Out of the Earth
          • Fossils and the Supernatural
          • Fossils, Myth, and Pseudo-History
          • Man During the Stone Age
          • Fossil Bones and Giants
          • American Elephant Myths
          • The Mammoth and the Flood
          • Fossils and Myth
          • Fossil Origin of the Cyclops
          • Mastodon, Mammoth, and Man
        • Fragments on Giants
        • Manichaean Book of Giants
        • Geoffrey on British Giants
        • Alfonso X's Hermetic History of Giants
        • Boccaccio and the Fossil 'Giant'
        • Book of Howth
        • Purchas His Pilgrimage
        • Edmond Temple's 1827 Giant Investigation
        • The Giants of Sardinia
        • Giants and the Sons of God
        • The Magnetism of Evil
        • Tertiary Giants
        • Smithsonian Giant Reports
        • Early American Giants
        • The Giant of Coahuila
        • Jewish Encyclopedia on Giants
        • Index of Giants
        • Newspaper Accounts of Giants
        • Lanier's A Book of Giants
      • Science and History >
        • Halley on Noah's Comet
        • The Newport Tower
        • Iron: The Stone from Heaven
        • Ararat and the Ark
        • Pyramid Facts and Fancies
        • Argonauts before Homer
        • The Deluge
        • Crown Prince Rudolf on the Pyramids
        • Old Mythology in New Apparel
        • Blavatsky on Dinosaurs
        • Teddy Roosevelt on Bigfoot
        • Devil Worship in France
        • Maspero's Review of Akhbar al-zaman
        • The Holy Grail as Lucifer's Crown Jewel
        • The Mutinous Sea
        • The Rock Wall of Rockwall
        • Fabulous Zoology
        • The Origins of Talos
        • Mexican Mythology
        • Chinese Pyramids
        • Maqrizi's Names of the Pharaohs
      • Extreme History >
        • Roman Empire Hoax
        • American Antiquities
        • American Cataclysms
        • England, the Remnant of Judah
        • Historical Chronology of the Mexicans
        • Maspero on the Predynastic Sphinx
        • Vestiges of the Mayas
        • Ragnarok: The Age of Fire and Gravel
        • Origins of the Egyptian People
        • The Secret Doctrine >
          • Volume 1: Cosmogenesis
          • Volume 2: Anthropogenesis
        • Phoenicians in America
        • The Electric Ark
        • Traces of European Influence
        • Prince Henry Sinclair
        • Pyramid Prophecies
        • Templars of Ancient Mexico
        • Chronology and the "Riddle of the Sphinx"
        • The Faith of Ancient Egypt
        • Spirit of the Hour in Archaeology
        • Book of the Damned
        • Great Pyramid As Noah's Ark
        • Richard Shaver's Proofs
    • Alien Encounters >
      • US Government Ancient Astronaut Files >
        • Fortean Society and Columbus
        • Inquiry into Shaver and Palmer
        • The Skyfort Document
        • Whirling Wheels
        • Denver Ancient Astronaut Lecture
        • Soviet Search for Lemuria
        • Visitors from Outer Space
        • Unidentified Flying Objects (Abstract)
        • "Flying Saucers"? They're a Myth
        • UFO Hypothesis Survival Questions
        • Air Force Academy UFO Textbook
        • The Condon Report on Ancient Astronauts
        • Atlantis Discovery Telegrams
        • Ancient Astronaut Society Telegram
        • Noah's Ark Cables
        • The Von Daniken Letter
        • CIA Psychic Probe of Ancient Mars
        • Scott Wolter Lawsuit
        • UFOs in Ancient China
        • CIA Report on Noah's Ark
        • CIA Noah's Ark Memos
        • Congressional Ancient Aliens Testimony
        • Ancient Astronaut and Nibiru Email
        • Congressional Ancient Mars Hearing
        • House UFO Hearing
      • Ancient Extraterrestrials >
        • Premodern UFO Sightings
        • The Moon Hoax
        • Inhabitants of Other Planets
        • Blavatsky on Ancient Astronauts
        • The Stanzas of Dzyan (Hoax)
        • Aerolites and Religion
        • What Is Theosophy?
        • Plane of Ether
        • The Adepts from Venus
      • A Message from Mars
      • Saucer Mystery Solved?
      • Orville Wright on UFOs
      • Interdimensional Flying Saucers
      • Flying Saucers Are Real
      • Report on UFOs
    • The Supernatural >
      • The Devils of Loudun
      • Sublime and Beautiful
      • Voltaire on Vampires
      • Demonology and Witchcraft
      • Thaumaturgia
      • Bulgarian Vampires
      • Religion and Evolution
      • Transylvanian Superstitions
      • Defining a Zombie
      • Dread of the Supernatural
      • Vampires
      • Werewolves and Vampires and Ghouls
      • Science and Fairy Stories
      • The Cursed Car
    • Classic Fiction >
      • Lucian's True History
      • Some Words with a Mummy
      • The Coming Race
      • King Solomon's Mines
      • An Inhabitant of Carcosa
      • The Xipéhuz
      • Lot No. 249
      • The Novel of the Black Seal
      • The Island of Doctor Moreau
      • Pharaoh's Curse
      • Edison's Conquest of Mars
      • The Lost Continent
      • Count Magnus
      • The Mysterious Stranger
      • The Wendigo
      • Sredni Vashtar
      • The Lost World
      • The Red One
      • H. P. Lovecraft >
        • Dagon
        • The Call of Cthulhu
        • History of the Necronomicon
        • At the Mountains of Madness
        • Lovecraft's Library in 1932
      • The Skeptical Poltergeist
      • The Corpse on the Grating
      • The Second Satellite
      • Queen of the Black Coast
      • A Martian Odyssey
    • Classic Genre Movies
    • Miscellaneous Documents >
      • The Balloon-Hoax
      • A Problem in Greek Ethics
      • The Migration of Symbols
      • The Gospel of Intensity
      • De Profundis
      • The Life and Death of Crown Prince Rudolf
      • The Bathtub Hoax
      • Crown Prince Rudolf's Letters
      • Position of Viking Women
      • Employment of Homosexuals
      • James Dean's Scrapbook
      • James Dean's Love Letters
      • The Amazing James Dean Hoax!
    • Free Classic Pseudohistory eBooks
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