The Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development 2021–2030 is a UN initiative that promotes a common framework for supporting stakeholders in studying and assessing the health of the world’s oceans. The initiative also presents a vital opportunity to improve the integration of archaeology within the marine sciences. With the First Global Planning Meeting of the Decade held in Copenhagen at the National Museum of Denmark in May 2019, steps are already being taken to make the best of this opportunity, and the resulting creation of an Ocean Decade Heritage Network is proposed as a way forward to continue to raise awareness in the cultural heritage community about the Decade and to facilitate information sharing regarding this endeavour.

Documentation and conservation of underwater cultural heritage (UCH) are crucial to preserving humankind’s history and traditions, safeguarding tangible testimonies of past human life while ensuring its accessibility to future generations. The TECTONIC (Technological Consortium TO develop sustainability of underwater Cultural Heritage) project is promoting an intersectoral collaboration between academic and non-academic professionals (i.e., archaeologists, conservators, geologists, engineers, etc.) working on different topics related to UCHs, to find solutions to the issues still existing in the field. The overall aim is the exchange of skills for the improvement and assessment of innovative materials and techniques to develop solutions and marketable products for the conservation and management of the UCH, sustainably. To achieve its overall aim, TECTONIC is undertaking activities driven by the following objectives: (a) the study, documentation, and mapping of selected UCHs; (b) the creation of decision-support tools for UCH risk assessment in a changing environment; (c) the initiation of conservation studies and protocols for conservation activities; (d) the development of open and low-cost robotic solutions for the inspection of UCH; and (e) the raising of public awareness and knowledge about UCH. All the objectives are devoted to stimulating new sustainable ideas that would bring the growth of cultural tourism and the development of new marketable products by capitalizing on the research results.

En este trabajo se presentan las investigaciones desarrolladas en el área costera del Parque Nacional Monte León (provincia de Santa Cruz, Argentina) en relación a la evidencia arqueológica de naufragios de tiempos históricos. El estudio incluye el análisis de antecedentes relevantes para el área de estudio y el planteo de la metodología de trabajo en función de los objetivos propuestos y de las características ambientales del área. Dicha metodología se basó en la realización de prospecciones sistemáticas en sectores intermareales y supramareales. Se presenta un análisis de los principales indicadores utilizados para la interpretación de restos de naufragios desarticulados y dispersos, incluyendo caracterizaciones metalúrgicas y determinaciones taxonómicas de maderas. Se consideran también los procesos de formación intervinientes en este tipo de contextos ambientales, como así también el estado de preservación y los riesgos de alteración a los que están sujetos estos materiales. De este modo fue posible realizar una aproximación a la tipología, características y cronología de las embarcaciones representadas.