EUROPEAN CONVENTION
ON THE PROTECTION OF THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL HERITAGE
(REVISED)
(ETS N 143)
(Valletta, 16.I.1992)
Preamble
The member States of the Council of Europe and the other
States party to the European Cultural Convention signatory hereto,
Considering that the aim of the Council of Europe is to
achieve a greater unity between its members for the purpose, in
particular, of safeguarding and realising the ideals and
principles which are their common heritage;
Having regard to the European Cultural Convention signed in
Paris on 19 December 1954, in particular Articles 1 and 5 thereof;
Having regard to the Convention for the Protection of the
Architectural Heritage of Europe signed in Granada on 3 October
1985;
Having regard to the European Convention on Offences relating
to Cultural Property signed in Delphi on 23 June 1985;
Having regard to the recommendations of the Parliamentary
Assembly relating to archaeology and in particular Recommendations
848 (1978), 921 (1981) and 1072 (1988);
Having regard to Recommendation N R (89) 5 concerning the
protection and enhancement of the archaeological heritage in the
context of town and country planning operations;
Recalling that the archaeological heritage is essential to a
knowledge of the history of mankind;
Acknowledging that the European archaeological heritage, which
provides evidence of ancient history, is seriously threatened with
deterioration because of the increasing number of major planning
schemes, natural risks, clandestine or unscientific excavations
and insufficient public awareness;
Affirming that it is important to institute, where they do not
yet exist, appropriate administrative and scientific supervision
procedures, and that the need to protect the archaeological
heritage should be reflected in town and country planning and
cultural development policies;
Stressing that responsibility for the protection of the
archaeological heritage should rest not only with the State
directly concerned but with all European countries, the aim being
to reduce the risk of deterioration and promote conservation by
encouraging exchanges of experts and the comparison of
experiences;
Noting the necessity to complete the principles set forth in
the European Convention for the Protection of the Archaeological
Heritage signed in London on 6 May 1969, as a result of evolution
of planning policies in European countries,
Have agreed as follows:
Definition of the archaeological heritage
Article 1
1. The aim of this (revised) Convention is to protect the
archaeological heritage as a source of the European collective
memory and as an instrument for historical and scientific study.
2. To this end shall be considered to be elements of the
archaeological heritage all remains and objects and any other
traces of mankind from past epochs:
i) the preservation and study of which help to retrace the
history of mankind and its relation with the natural environment;
ii) for which excavations or discoveries and other methods of
research into mankind and the related environment are the main
sources of information; and
iii) which are located in any area within the jurisdiction of
the Parties.
3. The archaeological heritage shall include structures,
constructions, groups of buildings, developed sites, moveable
objects, monuments of other kinds as well as their context,
whether situated on land or under water.
Identification of the heritage and
measures for protection
Article 2
Each Party undertakes to institute, by means appropriate to
the State in question, a legal system for the protection of the
archaeological heritage, making provision for:
i) the maintenance of an inventory of its archaeological
heritage and the designation of protected monuments and areas;
ii) the creation of archaeological reserves, even where there
are no visible remains on the ground or under water, for the
preservation of material evidence to be studied by later
generations;
iii) the mandatory reporting to the competent authorities by a
finder of the chance discovery of elements of the archaeological
heritage and making them available for examination.
Article 3
To preserve the archaeological heritage and guarantee the
scientific significance of archaeological research work, each
Party undertakes:
i) to apply procedures for the authorisation and supervision
of excavation and other archaeological activities in such a way
as:
a) to prevent any illicit excavation or removal of elements of
the archaeological heritage;
b) to ensure that archaeological excavations and prospecting
are undertaken in a scientific manner and provided that:
- non-destructive methods of investigation are applied
wherever possible;
- the elements of the archaeological heritage are not
uncovered or left exposed during or after excavation without
provision being made for their proper preservation,
conservation and management;
ii) to ensure that excavations and other potentially
destructive techniques are carried out only by qualified,
specially authorised persons;
iii) to subject to specific prior authorisation, whenever
foreseen by the domestic law of the State, the use of metal
detectors and any other detection equipment or process for
archaeological investigation.
Article 4
Each Party undertakes to implement measures for the physical
protection of the archaeological heritage, making provision, as
circumstances demand:
i) for the acquisition or protection by other appropriate
means by the public authorities of areas intended to constitute
archaeological reserves;
ii) for the conservation and maintenance of the archaeological
heritage, preferably in situ;
iii) for appropriate storage places for archaeological remains
which have been removed from their original location.
Integrated conservation of the archaeological heritage
Article 5
Each Party undertakes:
i) to seek to reconcile and combine the respective
requirements of archaeology and development plans by ensuring that
archaeologists participate:
a) in planning policies designed to ensure well-balanced
strategies for the protection, conservation and enhancement of
sites of archaeological interest;
b) in the various stages of development schemes;
ii) to ensure that archaeologists, town and regional planners
systematically consult one another in order to permit:
a) the modification of development plans likely to have
adverse effects on the archaeological heritage;
b) the allocation of sufficient time and resources for an
appropriate scientific study to be made of the site and for its
findings to be published;
iii) to ensure that environmental impact assessments and the
resulting decisions involve full consideration of archaeological
sites and their settings;
iv) to make provision, when elements of the archaeological
heritage have been found during development work, for their
conservation in situ when feasible;
v) to ensure that the opening of archaeological sites to the
public, especially any structural arrangements necessary for the
reception of large numbers of visitors, does not adversely affect
the archaeological and scientific character of such sites and
their surroundings.
The financing of archaeological research
and conservation
Article 6
Each Party undertakes:
i) to arrange for public financial support for archaeological
research from national, regional and local authorities in
accordance with their respective competence;
ii) to increase the material resources for rescue archaeology:
a) by taking suitable measures to ensure that provision is
made in major public or private development schemes for covering,
from public sector or private sector resources, as appropriate,
the total costs of any necessary related archaeological
operations;
b) by making provision in the budget relating to these schemes
in the same way as for the impact studies necessitated by
environmental and regional planning precautions, for preliminary
archaeological study and prospection, for a scientific summary
record as well as for the full publication and recording of the
findings.
Collection and dissemination of scientific information
Article 7
For the purpose of facilitating the study of, and
dissemination of knowledge about, archaeological discoveries, each
Party undertakes:
i) to make or bring up to date surveys, inventories and maps
of archaeological sites in the areas within its jurisdiction;
ii) to take all practical measures to ensure the drafting,
following archaeological operations, of a publishable scientific
summary record before the necessary comprehensive publication of
specialised studies.
Article 8
Each Party undertakes:
i) to facilitate the national and international exchange of
elements of the archaeological heritage for professional
scientific purposes, while taking appropriate steps to ensure that
such circulation in no way prejudices the cultural and scientific
value of those elements;
ii) to promote the pooling of information on archaeological
research and excavations in progress and to contribute to the
organisation of international research programmes.
Promotion of public awareness
Article 9
Each Party undertakes:
i) to conduct educational actions with a view to rousing and
developing an awareness in public opinion of the value of the
archaeological heritage for understanding the past and of the
threats to this heritage;
ii) to promote public access to important elements of its
archaeological heritage, especially sites, and encourage the
display to the public of suitable selections of archaeological
objects.
Prevention of the illicit circulation of elements
of the archaeological heritage
Article 10
Each Party undertakes:
i) to arrange for the relevant public authorities and for
scientific institutions to pool information on any illicit
excavations identified;
ii) to inform the competent authorities in the State of origin
which is a Party to this Convention of any offer suspected of
coming either from illicit excavations or unlawfully from official
excavations, and to provide the necessary details thereof;
iii) to take such steps as are necessary to ensure that
museums and similar institutions whose acquisition policy is under
State control do not acquire elements of the archaeological
heritage suspected of coming from uncontrolled finds or illicit
excavations or unlawfully from official excavations;
iv) as regards museums and similar institutions located in the
territory of a Party but the acquisition policy of which is not
under State control:
a) to convey to them the text of this (revised) Convention;
b) to spare no effort to ensure respect by the said museums
and institutions for the principles set out in paragraph 3 above;
v) to restrict, as far as possible, by education, information,
vigilance and co-operation, the transfer of elements of the
archaeological heritage obtained from uncontrolled finds or
illicit excavations or unlawfully from official excavations.
Article 11
Nothing in this (revised) Convention shall affect existing or
future bilateral or multilateral treaties between Parties
concerning the illicit circulation of elements of the
archaeological heritage or their restitution to the rightful
owner.
Mutual technical and scientific assistance
Article 12
The Parties undertake:
i) to afford mutual technical and scientific assistance
through the pooling of experience and exchanges of experts in
matters concerning the archaeological heritage;
ii) to encourage, under the relevant national legislation or
international agreements binding them, exchanges of specialists in
the preservation of the archaeological heritage, including those
responsible for further training.
Control of the application of the (revised) Convention
Article 13
For the purposes of this (revised) Convention, a committee of
experts, set up by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of
Europe pursuant to Article 17 of the Statute of the Council of
Europe, shall monitor the application of the (revised) Convention
and in particular:
i) report periodically to the Committee of Ministers of the
Council of Europe on the situation of archaeological heritage
protection policies in the States Parties to the (revised)
Convention and on the implementation of the principles embodied in
the (revised) Convention;
ii) propose measures to the Committee of Ministers of the
Council of Europe for the implementation of the (revised)
Convention's provisions, including multilateral activities,
revision or amendment of the (revised) Convention and informing
public opinion about the purpose of the (revised) Convention;
iii) make recommendations to the Committee of Ministers of the
Council of Europe regarding invitations to States which are not
members of the Council of Europe to accede to this (revised)
Convention.
Final clauses
Article 14
1. This (revised) Convention shall be open for signature by
the member States of the Council of Europe and the other States
party to the European Cultural Convention.
It is subject to ratification, acceptance or approval.
Instruments of ratification, acceptance or approval shall be
deposited with the Secretary General of the Council of Europe.
2. No State party to the European Convention on the Protection
of the Archaeological Heritage, signed in London on 6 May 1969,
may deposit its instrument of ratification, acceptance or approval
unless it has already denounced the said Convention or denounces
it simultaneously.
3. This (revised) Convention shall enter into force six months
after the date on which four States, including at least three
member States of the Council of Europe, have expressed their
consent to be bound by the (revised) Convention in accordance with
the provisions of the preceding paragraphs.
4. Whenever, in application of the preceding two paragraphs,
the denunciation of the Convention of 6 May 1969 would not become
effective simultaneously with the entry into force of this
(revised) Convention, a Contracting State may, when depositing its
instrument of ratification, acceptance or approval, declare that
it will continue to apply the Convention of 6 May 1969 until the
entry into force of this (revised) Convention.
5. In respect of any signatory State which subsequently
expresses its consent to be bound by it, the (revised) Convention
shall enter into force six months after the date of the deposit of
the instrument of ratification, acceptance or approval.
Article 15
1. After the entry into force of this (revised) Convention,
the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe may invite any
other State not a member of the Council and the European Economic
Community, to accede to this (revised) Convention by a decision
taken by the majority provided for in Article 20.d of the Statute
of the Council of Europe and by the unanimous vote of the
representatives of the Contracting States entitled to sit on the
Committee.
2. In respect of any acceding State or, should it accede, the
European Economic Community, the (revised) Convention shall enter
into force six months after the date of deposit of the instrument
of accession with the Secretary General of the Council of Europe.
Article 16
1. Any State may, at the time of signature or when depositing
its instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession,
specify the territory or territories to which this (revised)
Convention shall apply.
2. Any State may at any later date, by a declaration addressed
to the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, extend the
application of this (revised) Convention to any other territory
specified in the declaration. In respect of such territory the
(revised) Convention shall enter into force six months after the
date of receipt of such declaration by the Secretary General.
3. Any declaration made under the two preceding paragraphs
may, in respect of any territory specified in such declaration, be
withdrawn by a notification addressed to the Secretary General.
The withdrawal shall become effective six months after the date of
receipt of such notification by the Secretary General.
Article 17
1. Any Party may at any time denounce this (revised)
Convention by means of a notification addressed to the Secretary
General of the Council of Europe.
2. Such denunciation shall become effective six months
following the date of receipt of such notification by the
Secretary General.
Article 18
The Secretary General of the Council of Europe shall notify
the member States of the Council of Europe, the other States party
to the European Cultural Convention and any State or the European
Economic Community which has acceded or has been invited to accede
to this (revised) Convention of:
i) any signature;
ii) the deposit of any instrument of ratification, acceptance,
approval or accession;
iii) any date of entry into force of this (revised) Convention
in accordance with Articles 14, 15 and 16;
iv) any other act, notification or communication relating to
this (revised) Convention.
In witness whereof the undersigned, being duly authorised
thereto, have signed this (revised) Convention.
Done at Valletta, this 16th day of January 1992, in English
and French, both texts being equally authentic, in a single copy
which shall be deposited in the archives of the Council of Europe.
The Secretary General of the Council of Europe shall transmit
certified copies to each member State of the Council of Europe, to
the other States party to the European Cultural Convention, and to
any non-member State or the European Economic Community invited to
accede to this (revised) Convention.
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