The article refers to R.M.S. Titanic as a grave when in reality it is not but rather it is a cemetery. However the cemetery is two and a half miles under the Atlantic ocean.
Certainly the ships 1985 discovery was the worst thing that could have happened to the Titanic cemetery and ever since hundreds of objects have been removed. The ethics to excavating a modern cemetery and removing it's monuments for sale are obvious.
Others might say since the cemetery is inaccessible to the public that in fact they are preserving the artifacts as well as the memory of the ship and her occupants. The wreck of the Titanic is of course more of an exception in that the ships fame will probably always make artifacts from it valuable commodities.
How safe can the wreck of the Titanic really be even though it is a cemetery it is still much like most other cemetery's and will eventually be emptied for profit, intellectual and/or monetary reward.
In the last chapter of Paul Brunton's 1936 book "A Search in Secret Egypt" we are presented with "An Adept's solemn message" which is a warning about the opening of graves and the dark forces which release diseases upon the world.
This is perhaps an exaggeration for what much of society feels about disturbing modern graves, which by nature arouses primitive instincts and offends our own desires to be left undisturbed after death.
Archaeology is all about opening graves so at what date do we establish the no touch line? Clearly in this case no government had the right to say as the ship is in international waters.
The Titanic is mythical in it's scale and as a result the proper time to excavate(?) has been taken on by those there with the technology to take it on at the time. To my knowledge no intrinsically valuable object has come from the cemetery?
The rapid decay of the ship over the last 27 years since it's discovery may be the result of these visits for artifacts and limited knowledge.
As a boy of the 1970,s the Titanic was just as mythical as it is today except back them we wondered if she would ever be found? More than forty years later that answer is old news but the great ship is no less mythical in proportions.
Nothing has dimmed the mystery's of the Titanic thus it must be acknowledged that these artifacts from the Titanic are probably good investments. Though the attempt is to sell the collection whole.
