INTRODUCTION Constructing America from the Sea: Maritime Archaeology Research, International Cooperation and Best Practices in the Underwater Cultural Heritage of Latin America Arturo Rey da Silva 1 • Jorge M. Herrera Tovar 2 Published online: 4 December 2017 Ó Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2017 Abstract This article introduces this special issue of the Journal of Maritime Archaeology by giving a brief introduction to the current situation of the practice of maritime archae- ology in Latin America, as well as reviewing the main challenges that the discipline faces here. An assessment of existing regional cooperation, the presence of maritime archaeol- ogy within the international community and its importance to develop new theoretical and methodological perspectives that advance access to knowledge is made. Finally, the article focuses on some of the current work carried out in Latin America. Resumen Este artı ´culo introduce este nu ´mero especial del Journal of Maritime Archaeology haciendo una breve introduccio ´n a la situacio ´n actual de la arqueologı ´a marı ´tima en Ame ´rica Latina y el Caribe, ası ´ como revisa los principales desafı ´os que la disciplina encuentra en la regio ´n. Haciendo una valoracio ´n de la cooperacio ´n regional existente, la presencia de la arqueologı ´a marı ´tima dentro de la comunidad internacional y su importancia para desarrollar nuevas perspectivas teo ´ricas y metodolo ´gicas que avancen nuestro acceso al conocimiento. Eventualmente, el artı ´culo esta ´ enfocado a algunos de los trabajos que se llevan a cabo en Ame ´rica Latina en la actualidad. Keywords UNESCO 2001 Convention Á Underwater cultural heritage Á Maritime archaeology Á Capacity building Á Latin America and the Caribbean & Arturo Rey da Silva a.rey-da-silva@unesco.org Jorge M. Herrera Tovar sanjorgeyeldragon@hotmail.com 1 UNESCO, Secretariat of the 2001 Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage, Paris, France 2 Institute of Anthropological Research, National Autonomous University of Mexico, Mexico City, Mexico 123 J Mari Arch (2017) 12:149–162 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11457-017-9189-4