Caribbean Maritime Archaeology

Maritime environments, such as oceans, seas, bays, lakes, rivers, marshes, and cenotes, and the landscapes bordering them, hold maritime archaeological sites. This article describes archaeological sites in the Caribbean. It gives information on regional and international developments in the Caribbean region, in which all the countries share the same maritime heritage. This maritime heritage is described by different case studies presented here. Furthermore, this article provides an insight into the future of maritime archaeology in this region. It calls attention to the need of identifying key persons, training them, and placing them in authorities of management and research. Archaeological excavations must be undertaken selectively and in such a way that scientific objectives, adequate funding, professional staff, and provisions for documentation, conservation, curation, reporting, and public interpretation are well looked into.