`Too much digging is damaging our heritage'
By Jean Christou
(archive article - Tuesday, November 29, 2005)
THE Association of Cypriot Archaeologists said yesterday it was
calling on President Tassos Papadopoulos to rewrite the law relating
to archaeology and antiquities in Cyprus, saying the situation was a
mess.

Andreas Demetriou, president of the association, told a news
conference in Nicosia that the law, dating from 1945, was hopelessly
inadequate. He said he had written a letter to Papadopoulos, which
has not yet been sent, calling for a review of the entire sector.

Demetriou said excavations were in many cases being carried out
without due scientific methodology, and that that necessary
professionals other than archaeologists, such as civil engineers and
architects were not being used on digs.
He also said there was far to much digging going on, between foreign
missions and local ones, which resulted in damage to archaeological
sites and possible valuable material been thrown away due to lack of
space and facilities.

Showing photos at the Ayios Athanassios site in the Larnaca district,
Demetriou said two metres of soil had been removed, leaving the
columns exposed and in danger of collapse. The columns were being
held up by two pieces of wood. He said if a civil engineer had been
employed at the site, he could have advised archaeologists of the
best way to go about ensuring the safety of the columns.

He was also angered by the amount of material being dumped, and
displayed a number of fragments, which, if they were collected and
analysed, might reveal something interesting.

"These pieces of stone with paint were thrown away as debris," he
said.
"They should have been analysed to see what colours and type of paint
were being used. If they kept them all, they could be put together
and you could perhaps come up with a full figure."

He also displayed pottery shards found near Mitsero, which were
glazed, indicating that they dated from mediaeval times. "There are
hundreds of piece and tiles. They can't throw things away, no matter
how humble a find may seem," said Demetriou.
"We dash everywhere in Cyprus to dig and then we dump things. If you
don't have space, don't dig. And if we don't have suitable persons,
there should be no excavations. If you don't have the right personnel
on excavations, it's better to leave the things in the earth. They
are better protected there."

Demetriou said the number of digs per year was a contributing factor
to the waste involved. He said nothing was being left for future
generations and suggested the number of digs per year be limited.

"It's not only Cypriot teams that often leave a mess," he said.

Demetriou said the association was alerted to the fact that
scientific means were not always used, when a retired archaeologist
on a recent dig admitted to not keeping a daily diary, which under
archaeological rules is sacrosanct and is a requirement of law.

"There are ways to write a diary as long as its left in such a
condition that anyone coming afterwards can understand it," said
Demetriou. He said the association had since attempted to secure
copies of the diaries written on various digs, but said he received
the brush off from the Antiquities Department.

"For all we know, we may have people digging for 23 years and there
is no diary," he said. "We don't have any proof that this has
happened but we want to find out."
Glaring gaps in the current law, according to Demetriou, show that
there is no clear government policy on the protection of
archaeological sites.

He said the 1945 law was inherited from the British and adopted as it
was, even though it passed to a legitimate government Ministry,
whereas under British rule the Director of the Department was
autonomous.

He said the law was amended in 1973 in a negative way, because it
allowed anyone in the possession of antiquities a lengthy period of
six months to register them.

"This gave many tomb robbers the time and freedom to destroy much of
the archaeological riches on the island," he said. "This is how big
collections were made. People should be made to register finds within
seven days so that proper excavations can be done. The law is
outdated. Being in the EU, we have to see how other Mediterranean
countries deal with archaeological issues. Even Greece changed its
laws in 2002. There is no government policy on archaeology. There is
no strategy on antiquities at all."

In his letter to Papadopoulos, Demetriou said provision should also
be made under a new law for the protection of underwater
archaeological sites off the island's coast, the rights and non-
rights of owners of antiquities, the import and export of artifacts,
and penalties for breaking the law.



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