25th January 2006, 09:26 AM
I agree with Fishslice - Article 3 of Valletta specifically states that "...excavations and other potentially destructive techniques are carried out only by qualified, specially authorised persons", and that each party shall "...apply procedures for the authorisation and supervision of excavation and other archaeological activities...". Licensing would appear to be the only way this clause could be implemented.
The CIA really muddied the waters on this. The Article doesn't say anything about stopping amateur or independant archaeology - it just says that people should be qualified and authorised to carry out the work. Plenty of amateurs could easily fulfill those requirements and would have no trouble carrying on exactly as they are in such circumstances. It's only designed to stop bad archaeologists doing bad archaeology - surely we're all in favour of that, whether they be amateur or professional.
The CIA really muddied the waters on this. The Article doesn't say anything about stopping amateur or independant archaeology - it just says that people should be qualified and authorised to carry out the work. Plenty of amateurs could easily fulfill those requirements and would have no trouble carrying on exactly as they are in such circumstances. It's only designed to stop bad archaeologists doing bad archaeology - surely we're all in favour of that, whether they be amateur or professional.