The World Heritage Committee,
1. Inscribes the Etruscan Necropolises of Cerveteri and Tarquinia, Italy, on the World Heritage List on the basis of cultural criteria (i), (iii) and (iv):
Criterion (i): The necropolises of Tarquinia and Cerveteri are masterpieces of creative genius: Tarquinia's large-scale wall paintings are exceptional both for their formal qualities and for their content, which reveal aspects of life, death, and religious beliefs of the ancient Etruscans. Cerveteri shows in a funerary context the same town planning and architectural schemes used in an ancient
city.
Criterion (iii): The two necropolises constitute a unique and exceptional testimony to the ancient Etruscan civilisation, the only urban type of civilisation in pre-Roman Italy. Moreover, the depiction of daily life in the frescoed tombs,
many of which are replicas of Etruscan houses, is a unique testimony to this vanished culture.
Criterion (iv): Many of the tombs of Tarquinia and Cerveteri represent types of buildings that no longer exist in any other form. The cemeteries, replicas of Etruscan town planning schemes, are some of the earliest existing in the region.
2. Decides not to include the Caerean Archaeological Museum in Ceveteri or the National Archaeological Museum in Tarquinia in the inscription, underlining nevertheless, the extraordinary value of the collections to the understanding of the two necropolises;
3. Requests the State Party to submit, by 1 February 2005, revised maps of the property that do not include the two museums;
4. Further requests the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre by 1 February 2005 the completed management plan for consideration by the Committee at its 29th session in 2005.