Underwater Archeological Museum to be created in Campeche

The San José el Alto Stronghold Underwater Archeological Museum , in Campeche , will exhibit a collection of 900 pieces from the Middle Pleistocene to the industrial era , most of them never before shown, announced the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH).

The venue was recently registered by the UNESCO to the Good Safeguarding Practices in terms of protection, conservation, and promotion of the Underwater Cultural Heritage .

The Underwater Archeological Museum, expected to be inaugurated this year , will have two locations : one in the city of Lerma, in Playa Bonita , and the other in San José el Alto , a stronghold of the 18th century in the port of San Francisco de Campeche.

Helena Barba Meinecke

, a specialist of the Sub-Directorate of Underwater Archeology of the INAH, said that the introductory room will explain what is underwater archeology, how specialists work and the importance of this cultural heritage.

Among the objects exhibited will be the skeleton of the oldest woman found in a cave of Hoyo Negro, Tulum , in the state of Quintana Roo , evidence of fauna from the Middle Pleistocene , artillery and goods from the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries , along with 350 new pieces from the last discoveries in the Alacranes reef.

The ludic part of the exhibition will be in Playa Bonita and it will consist of the recreation of a shipwreck , where the visitor will be able to swim, dive and “experience a wreck,” stated Barba. It includes a replica of a submerged ship from the 18th century, 6 cannons, 4 anchors and its cargo. With this material, they will tell the history of the shipwreck and explain how underwater archeological work is done.

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