Valletta Treaty

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."

In particular, the revised Convention focuses on the problem of conservation of archaeological heritage in the face of development projects.

The article aims to emphasise the importance of both protection and scientific investigation of archaeological heritage as "a source of the European collective memory".

Consequentially, destructive as well as non-destructive scientific methods can be carried out with the provision that an excavation is seen as an ultima ratio to gain knowledge about the archaeological heritage of Europe.

The consultation process can only be successful, if the State parties make "relevant surveys, inventories and maps of archaeological sites" (Art.

In that case, emergency excavations should be carried out;[2] and it is necessary that States ensure "sufficient time and resources for an appropriate scientific study of the site" and the publication of its findings are allocated.

If excavation works discover elements of archaeological heritage during a project, Article 5, paragraph vii makes provisions for “conservation in situ when feasible".

An option may be to excavate the site and conserve the remains with soil or a special covering afterwards, so that the construction can occur on top of it.

States are required to arrange public, either on local, regional or national level, financial support for archaeological research.

In addition, and that is important, the actor, either public or private, who is responsible for the concerning development project, has the obligation to allocate funding of any necessary related archaeological activities, such as rescue excavations (Art.

This monitoring includes: periodic reports on the situation of archaeological heritage protection policies and the realisation of the Convention’s principles in the States (Art.

Furthermore, the committee of experts may propose measures to improve the implementation of the revised Convention by recommendations for amendments, multilateral activities, informing the public (Art.

The revised Convention shall enter into force six months after the date of the deposit of the instrument of ratification by any signatory State (Art.

In the process of signing or ratifying the treaty, States may specify/limit the territory to which this revised Convention shall apply (Art.

Every State party can denounce the revised Convention by notification to the Secretary General of the Council of Europe (Art.