The revised European Convention on the Protection of the
Archaeological Heritage stands as testimony to the evolution of
archaeological practice throughout Europe. It replaces the
original Convention of 1969, incorporating concepts and ideas
which have now become accepted practice. The revised Convention
builds on the lessons learnt from the last twenty-two years of
experience with the initial convention and incorporates
provisions designed to overcome defects and strengthen European
co-operation. a. The 1969 European Convention The 1969
Convention is mainly concerned with archaeological excavations
and the extraction of information from those excavations. It
entered into force on 20 November 1970. States party are:
Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece,
Iceland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Portugal,
Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Bulgaria, Holy See,
USSR and Yugoslavia. b. Recommendation No. R (89) 5 While, in
the 1960s, clandestine excavation was seen as the ma