Archaeology and the World Heritage Convention

International efforts to designate outstanding examples of the world's cultural and natural heritage began after the Second World War. The World Heritage Convention was signed at the General Conference of UNESCO in 1972 and the first cultural sites were selected in 1978. Now over 600 have been inscribed on the World Heritage List. The author, who is an honorary visiting professor at the Institute, acted as an advisor to the World Heritage Committee from 1992 to 2002 and here describes how the Convention came into being and discusses the representation of archaeological sites on the List