Valletta Treaty

The European Convention on the Protection of the Archaeological Heritage (Revised), usually referred to as the Valletta Treaty or Malta Convention, is an initiative from the Council of Europe. 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 to be elements of the archaeological heritage. 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." (Art. 1)

The Malta Convention is an international legally binding treaty within Europe. It places the revised Convention in the framework of activities of the Council of Europe concerning the cultural heritage since the European Cultural Convention came into force.

It deals with the protection, preservation and scientific research of archaeological heritage in Europe. In particular, the revised Convention focuses on the problem of conservation of archaeological heritage in the face of development projects. Other threats to the archaeological heritage are:

• Natural disasters
• Illicit and unscientific excavations
• Lack of public awareness

In accordance with the Preamble, objectives of the revised Convention are:

• To integrate the conservation and archaeological investigation of archaeological heritage in urban and regional planning policies;
• To establish a co-operation and consultation processes between archaeologists, and project developers;
• To set standards for funding and archaeological and conservational methods used in studying the “knowledge of the history of mankind”;
• To promote educational actions and public awareness of the necessity of the protection and investigation of archaeological heritage in Europe; and
• To foster international co-operation and joint action among all European countries in the field of archaeological resource management by means of developing and exchanging relevant scientific information, technologies and expertise.