Storytelling about Shipwrecks and Scuttled Ships from the 17–19th Century in the UNESCO World Heritage Site ‘Naval Port of Karlskrona’ in Sweden

Abstract

Shipwrecks obviously have stories to tell. Combined with a UNESCO World Heritage site and its Outstanding Universal Value, storytelling becomes a powerful tool for discussions about the preservation, usage, and development of cultural heritages. Within or near the World Heritage the Naval Port of Karlskrona, there is a large number of wrecks and scuttled ships (deliberately sunken ships). The article aims to share examples of how mainly scuttled ships can be used to arouse interest and how their stories can be displayed with different methods. For a long time, scuttled ships have been dismissed with arguments that there are no artefacts left and therefore of less archaeological value. In the Naval Port of Karlskrona, these ships have instead been shown to have an important role in understanding and strengthening the Outstanding Universal Value.