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.