Representing Pasts – Visioning Futures

Abstract

Silk Road was inscribed on World Heritage List in 2014 as a transboundary site stretching from east to west in Eurasia continent. That showcases that both tangible and intangible heritage from the past, that is, the multi-layered history of trade by multiple cultures and the traces of diverse civilizations can be represented as an inclusive cultural heritage as a whole. Although it is known that historical trade routes include sea routes as well as land routes, the relationship between the sea and cultural heritage has only been analyzed within individual categories such as underwater cultural heritage and ship-borne trade goods. Our research aims to categorize the cultural heritage related to the sea in the world and analyze how the relationship between the sea and cultural heritage can be interpreted and what quality or shared value of it may represent the Maritime Silk Route(MSR) in terms of cultural heritage. Dividing the world into the different maritime zones, we first covered the cultural heritage and other subjects related to the sea by surveying the administrative authorities of the coastal countries of the historical trade routes and their neighbouring countries. Second, we analyzed the representation of different cultural heritage mentioned, including inland waterways, rivers, lakes and irrigation facilities as well as archaeological remains and regional intangible cultures. The analysis, as a result, suggests that the exchange of civilizations through trade between sea areas had spread to the inland areas and thus, the inclusive value of the MSR is likely tailored into both the macro perspective of inter-sea trade and the micro perspective of the spread of culture within the region from the coastal areas to the inland areas.