Introduction

Throughout history the Mediterranean has been the great nexus of union between the nations that made up its shores. At the same time the rivers, lakes and marshlands served as routes for penetrating into the hinterlands and their banks became the ideal sites for human settlement. This continuous use of the waters has meant the leaving behind of innumerable mementoes of human activity, in the form of sunken ships, port constructions, etc. Over recent decades technical and methodological advances have allowed access to subaquatic archaeological remains, and their exploitation as a source of historical information. However, at the same time, the extension of human pressure along the coasts, and on the bottom of the sea, has accelerated the process of destruction of this enormously fragile heritage.

In order to counteract this problem, in 1992, the Generalitat (Autonomous Government) of Catalonia, created the Subaquatic Archaeological Centre of Catalonia, the CASC (Centre d’Arqueologia Subaquàtica de Catalunya) charging it with the following missions: the inventory, protection, conservation, study and spreading of the archaeological heritage of Catalonia which is found submerged under coastal and inland waters. The CASC has formed a part of the Archaeological Museum of Catalonia (Museu d’Arqueologia de Catalunya) since 1996.

The creation of the CASC allowed for the extension, throughout the whole of Catalonia, of the actions which, since 1981, had been undertaken in the counties of Girona by the Subaquatic Archaeological Department of the Girona Archaeological Technical Service. This department was, at the same time, involved in the continuation of the work of the Submarine Excavations Council of the provincia marítima de Gerona, which was created by ministerial order in 1972.

The operations of the CASC include the development of its own projects, as well as the provision of technical support for other, external, archaeological teams, to which end it
has a range of machinery and instruments, particularly the 22 metre boat “Thetis”, which works as a back up to subaquatic archaeological work.

As a centre of investigation, the CASC keeps up an inventory of the subaquatic heritage of Catalonia, and in Girona has its headquarters, warehouses, a specialised library and laboratories for the restoration and conservation of humid archaeological materials, particularly those of organic origins.