Context
The oasis of Merv, which formed a major centre of civilisation in Central Asia is home to a series of adjacent walled cities of different periods dating from the Bronze Age to the 18th century AD. From these vast human settlements, large number of archaeological remains and standing monuments can still be observed today.

Ancient Merv, inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1999 under criteria (ii) and (iii), is situated at the edge of the Karakum desert, at the crossing point of the Murghab River and one of the major west-east trade routes to Bukhara and Samarkand. The oasis occupies an area of 1200 hectares on the flat landscape created by the alluvial delta fan of the Murghab River.

Many architectural remains can be seen in the Park, particularly from the last two millennia. The main building materials used for construction are mud bricks and fired bricks. The architectural remains are subject to erosion caused by rain and snow, accelerated by the Northwest wind. They are also exposed to rising damp and salts resulting from the raised water table, after the construction of the Karakum canal in the 1950s, leading to serious undercutting of walls. Finally, insufficient control of land use and visitor access also accelerates the deterioration of the fragile earthen architectural structures.

In 2000, a year after its inscription on the UNESCO World Heritage List, the conservation problems were recognised by the national and international community and the entire site was inscribed on the list of 100 most endangered sites in the world by the World Monuments Watch programme.


Objectives

• Improve on conservation practices
• Train Park staff
• Set up a monitoring system
• Set up a quality control system for the materials used
• Increase links between conservators and archaeologists
• Define detailed action plans for a selection of threatened structures
• Carry out emergency conservation on threatened structures

Description
Since 2001, CRAterre organised 11 expert missions to Merv thanks to the financial support of Unesco - WHC, to gradually transfer skills to the team in charge of the site management and tackle the conservation problems. The Turkmen professionals in charge have gained efficiency and confidence, thanks to the skills and equipment transferred to the site. The various cooperation programmes have also led to a better understanding of the decay processes themselves, and promising results have been obtained in term of conservation techniques, proving that controlling the fast decay of earthen monuments is not an impossible task. A better balance has also been found between archaeological excavations and conservation.
In 2007, a national training programme was organised in Merv for site technicians coming from 8 turkmen sites.

Results

• Park staff and workers from the surrounding villages have gained experience and confidence
• Site better monitored
• Decay processes better understood
• Laboratory installed
• Materials tested before use
• Equipment available (office and site equipment)
• Conservation works implemented on several monuments
• Better balance between archaeological excavations and conservation activities
  
• Regular conservation works implemented
• The Merv experience is useful to the other Turkmen sites

Partners

Department for the protection, study and restoration of the historical and cultural monuments of Turkmenistan, Archaeological Park Ancient Merv, UNESCO World Heritage Centre, UNESCO regional office - Tehran, National Commission for UNESCO - Ashgabat, University College London, World Monuments Fund, Ministère français de la Culture - Direction de l'Architecture et du Patrimoine.