The Convention on the Protection of the Archaeological heritage of Europe, usually referred to as the Valletta Treaty or Malta Convention, is an initiative from the Council of Europe

Council of Europe

The Council of Europe is an international organisation promoting co-operation between all countries of Europe in the areas of legal standards, human rights, democratic development, the rule of law and cultural co-operation...

. The treaty from 1992, aims to protect the European archaeological heritage "as a source of European collective memory and as an instrument for historical and scientific study. All remains and objects and any other traces of humankind from past times are considered elements of the archaeological heritage. The notion of archaeological heritage includes 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."

Its main effect is that project developers have to make sure they don't destroy anything of archaeological value when they build something. Hence, since it was signed in 1992, archaeology

Archaeology

Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...

has become part of construction work in many areas in Europe.

External links

• An English copy of the Valletta Treaty, Council of Europe web site, retrieved October 25, 2006
• The conflict between In Situ and Ex Situ Conservation due to the Valletta Treaty, exemplified in the Netherlands, Sweden and England