Scuba diving as Mediterranean Culture. page 20 preservation and presentation of gozo’s maritime heritage by Sara Rich September 2006 S u M M a r y heritage Malta and the Malta tourism authority have recently endeavored to increase “quality tour- ism” in the Maltese islands. one way of doing so is by encouraging cultural tourism in Malta and gozo, and by preserving the maritime heritage of the islands by presenting Malta as a premier div- ing destination. this is in contrast to the “sun, sea, and sand” image that has disappointed recent tourism statistics in Malta. this study discusses the ways in which gozitans are preserving their maritime heritage through diving and how they are presenting this avenue of heritage to the public and divers as potential tourists. Introduction a r t i C l e i n f o Malta declared independence from great Britain in 1964 and is now a republic in the process of joining the euro- pean union. as a result, Malta is dependent upon tourism as a source of economic, and thus political, independence, as natural resources are limited to small farms and vine- yards, fjshing, salt production, and limestone quarries. This poses many problems as the infmux of tourism has had a similar effect on Maltese culture and identity as coloniza- tion had until 1964, that is, modern Maltese question their identity in the scope of a world that draws strict separation Keywords between east and West, arab and Christian. furthermore, Malta is already the most densely populated country in eu- Anthropology of tourism, artifjcial reefs, Malta, marine rope, and the hundreds of thousands of tourists who enter studies, shipwrecks, spear fjshing, underwater archaeology each year only add to the physical congestion of the islands. (9) in addition to the “sun, sea and sand” tourism Malta How to refer to this article has seen since the 1950s, (5,8) the Maltese archipelago, conveniently situated in the middle of the Mediterranean rich S., Scuba diving as Mediterranean Culture. preserva- and roughly equidistant from Sicily and tunisia, has been tion and presentation of gozo’s maritime heritage, 2007, continuously colonized since 700 B.C. by the phoenicians, omertaa, Journal for applied anthropology, http://www. romans, arabs, Knights of the order of St. John, turks, omertaa 2007 omertaa.org/archive/omertaa0004.pdf and Brits. Journal of applied anthropology
forts are being made to encourage perpetuation of traditional The maritime heritage of the islands extends back to Neo - page 21 methods and conservation of personal knowledge of individ- lithic times, when the original colonizers came by boat from ual fjshermen who do still subscribe to the old way. (14) An Sicily around 5000 B.C. (13) thousands of years later, in example of the importance of this heritage is that the luzzu 700 B.C., the Phoenicians came and coexisted with the in - is represented with oars on the 10-cent piece in Maltese cur- digenous Maltese, setting up colonies there and throughout rency, however this is soon to change with their acceptance the Mediterranean. the phoenicians of course are known for into the european union and adoption of the euro in 2007. their highly advanced navigational and boat-making skills and their precocious knowledge of currents and winds during Methodology the Bronze age and Classical periods. their colonization of Malta is evidenced by numerous tomb sites, grave goods, and i spent one month in Malta, and most of it was on the is- most importantly, the Semitic basis of the Maltese language, land of gozo. i lived in Xlendi, on the south shore of the which appropriately resembles lebanese in dialect. (6,16) island, for three weeks and three days, and in Xagħra, in the north central part of gozo, for four days. research re- the romans advanced on phoenician and greek maritime sults are based on personal observation and interviews. i skills and constructed a villa in ramla Bay on the north shore interviewed fjshermen, divers, a member of Heritage Mal - of gozo. there are also three roman shipwrecks in Xlendi ta, an employee of heritage Malta, a museum attendant for Bay, and numerous anchor stocks and amphorae have been heritage Malta, and three employees of the Malta tourism recovered and are housed with the villa artifacts in the ar- Authority. I cross-examined the Maritime Museum in Na - chaeology Museum in the Citadel in Victoria (rabat), gozo. dur, gozo with the Maritime Museum in Vittoriosa, Malta, also in the Citadel is the medieval old prison, where the both of which contain some of the fjrst diving gear from the Knights carved various sailing ships into the limestone walls 1950s. i dove eight different dive sites in the waters around where they were held captive for short time periods, usually gozo during my stay there, including the Karwela, one of for petty crimes. (6) the recently scuttled cruise ships at Xatt l’ahmar. the arabian heritage is more complicated and emotional, as they were recorded as being brutal pirates on the Mediter- Research Preservation ranean who committed all but genocide on the Maltese is- lands. likewise, the turks are passionately hated, and their Modern gozitans and the tourists who visit the island heritage survives in the form of architecture and in legends make decisions, directly and indirectly, as to what aspects such as that of San dimitri point (see research), which do of heritage will be preserved and what will slip into his- not leave the ottomans standing in a positive light. this is in torical realms. through scuba diving as a sports industry, stark contrast with the late roman heritage which, as legend gozitans have the opportunity to preserve their heritage has it, brought Christianity to the islands when St. paul suf- by scuttling deliberate wrecks to create dive sites and ar- fered a shipwreck off the coast of Melite, commonly believed tifjcial reefs for the protection of local and migrating ma - to be Malta. (6) Modern Maltese claim Catholicism as their rine life. the tugboat rozi was deliberately sunk off Malta’s primary religious affjliation. west coast in 1991 and is a very popular dive site. the Caro- lita barge was sunk by a torpedo in 1942 off Manoel island, the British invasion offers a more direct and current link, as and other deliberate shipwrecks include the um el faroud the Royal Navy is from whom the fjrst Maltese scuba divers and the imperial eagle, the sister ship to Jaques-yves Cou- obtained their second-hand gear. divers in Malta and gozo steau’s Calypso, but the location of these wrecks are too were interested originally only in spear fjshing for food and far away for Gozo dive excursions, as is the esoteric loca - sport during the early 1950s. (16) tion of the Blenheim Bomber, vaguely found off the south- east coast of Malta (2,11) (Map). the Xlendi is, contrary to As for the fjshing industry, modern Gozitans have, despite its name, near Gozo’s harbour Mġarr, but a recent storm Westernization and modernization, maintained much integ- turned it upside down, so the interior is currently inacces- rity, continuing to use some traditional methods. they still sible to divers (2,16) (Map). employ wooden luzzus, bamboo fjsh traps, and the long fjsh - ing poles that are used without a reel. however, most do not in a €1.2 million effort to increase diving tourism in gozo, use hand-made sails anymore, and their luzzus are equipped two cruise ships, the Karwela and the Cominoland, were with motors. this form of heritage is also under threat of scuttled at Xatt l’ahmar on august 12, 2006. these new at- omertaa 2007 modernization with coming generations of fjshermen, and ef - tractions will promote growth of both marine life and gozo’s Journal of applied anthropology
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