DEGUWA conference held in Vienna

A DEGUWA conference was held in Vienna from February 19th to 21st in the field of underwater archaeology on the theme of Byzantium at Sea – Innovation and Tradition. The In Poseidons Reich XV conference was organised by the eminent DEGUWA association (the German Association for the Promotion of Underwater Archaeology) in collaboration with numerous other local and foreign institutions (the Greek Ephorate for Byzantine Antiquities of the Cyclades, the Natural History Museum of Vienna, the Institute for Byzantine Studies and Modern Greek Language and Literature of the University of Vienna, the Department for Prehistoric and Medieval Archaeology of the University of Vienna and the Austrian Society for Pre- and Protohistoric Archaeology).

Some thirty lectures were given and ten posters featured on the early medieval and Byzantine periods focusing on seafaring. Garnering particular attention were lectures on the subject of maritime vessel construction and those dedicated to the research of harbours and the maritime history of the period. Lecturers and exhibitors came from fifteen countries, all from top institutions, museums, faculties and other related institutions. Participating at the conference from Croatia were underwater archaeologists from the University of Zadar, the Croatian Conservation Institute and of the International Centre for Underwater Archaeology in Zadar.

The organisers of the In Poseidons Reich XV conference invited all those on hand to officially support a Joint Statement adopted at the First Meeting of Experts for the Protection of Underwater Cultural Heritage in South East Europe and the Mediterranean, held in Zadar from October 1st to 4th of 2009, and organised by the International Centre for Underwater Archaeology, UNESCO and the Croatian Ministry of Culture. The statement was adopted by the experts participating in the conference.