Ziad al-Saad, head of Jordan's antiquities department, has said this could be the biggest find since the Dead Sea Scrolls in 1947.

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Martinez currently heads the museum's Greek and Roman antiquities department.

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Mr Watson has focused on a mass of material removed from Sotheby's by James Hodges, a disgruntled former administrator of its antiquities department in London who was later convicted for theft.

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In addition, UNESCO provides continuous support to the Department of Antiquities in the form of capacity building and training in site management and conservation.

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The Conference will be held under the patronage of UNESCO, the World Heritage Center, the Cyprus Presidency in the EU, and is supported, among others, by the Ministry of Education and Culture, the Cyprus National Commission for UNESCO and the Department of Antiquities.

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Sir John, who has been a trustee at the museum for the past five years, has worked closely with the Museum's department of Japanese Antiquities which is part of this year's UK-wide Japan 2001 Festival.

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Her department gets called in to excavate, evaluate and then finally offer a solution where both the antiquities can be protected and the construction work can go on.

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