Editorial

of the site date to the Roman and Early Christian
period. Its mosaics and in particular those
of the Annex of Eustolios, dated to the early 5th
century AD, were the first mosaics discovered
on the island that acquired international importance:
they are one of the few monuments,
world-wide, that illustrate the passage from
Paganism to Christianity.
The second paper was an "Evaluation of the
Orpheus Mosaic Project, Paphos, Cyprus" and
was presented by Dr Martha Demas, from the
Getty Conservation Institute, written in collaboration
with Neville Agnew, Thomas
Roby, Demetrios Michaelides, Giorgio Capriotti
and Niki Savvides. The conservation of the
Orpheus mosaic was a project carried out by
the Getty Conservation Institute in collaboration
with the Department of Antiquities of
Cyprus in 1988-1992. It involved the conservation
of the floor mosaic depicting Orpheus,
from the homonymous house in Paphos, by lifting
it using the rolling method and relaying it
in situ. As this was a method infrequently used,
the project was seen as an opportunity to
combine a training component by allowing the
participation in the project of a group of conservators
from the Mediterranean. The project
concluded with the installation of a prototype
temporary shelter over the mosaic, and was
followed by a publication analysing the philosophy
and the approach behind it. As the shelter
is still on site, it was decided that this was a
good opportunity to evaluate a well-known project,
by assessing the effectiveness of both the
shelter and the conservation method used for
the mosaic.
Generally speaking, the conference pointed out
the current trends in the conservation of mosaics
and the management of archaeological sites.
The presentations showed that the approach to
mosaic conservation has not been static over the
last thirty years but has evolved immensely from
one offering limited options for a single
mosaic (namely detachment), to one involving
complex decision-making and planning with a
range of viable in situ alternatives. The significance
of sustainability, cultural heritage values,
long-term planning, and stakeholder participation
in the decision-making process
were also widely acknowledged. Regarding stakeholder
participation, many papers discussed the
importance of collaboration between archaeologists,
conservators, architects, and the local
people in making decisions concerning the conservation
of cultural heritage.
The conference included excursions to archaeological
sites with mosaics and sites where mosaic
conservation projects are currently running:
Thuburbo Maius, Jebel Oust, Carthage, Neapolis
(both the site and the regional museum with
the magnificent mosaics, perhaps the best of
their kind in Tunisia). A reception was hosted
at the Bardo Museum in Tunis, a spectacular
17th century palace, which houses one of the
best collections of mosaics in the world. There
was also an optional post-conference excursion
to some of the spectacular archaeological sites
of Libya. Starting with Tripoli, the participants
visited the Castle, the Medina and Tripoli Museum.
But the visit to sites of Tripolitania -
Leptis Magna and its museum, Sabratha and
Villa Silene were the highlights of the tour.
During the conference, Demetrios Michaelides,
was re-elected President, for the next triennium.
The next international conference of the
ICCM will take place at Palermo in Sicily, in
2008.
The present shelter at the Annex of Eustolios,
looking SW.
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