The Road to the Antiquities Act and Basic Preservation Policies It Established

3 pages

Sites and Monuments: National Archaeological Records, edited by Carsten U. Larsen, The National Museum of Denmark. DKC, 1992

This volume includes most of the presentations made at the first National Records Conference, hosted by the National Museum of Denmark during May 1991, in Copenhagen. The three day meeting was attended by representatives of 60 countries. This collection brings together revised versions of 19 of the papers presented at the conference. With the exception of two presentations about national records in Poland and one from the United States, all the papers describe systems or initiatives in Western European countries, including six from the United Kingdom

Technical Brief 17: Developing an Archeological Site Conservation Database

Though the conservation and long-term management of archeological sites is not generally accepted wisdom, it wasn’t always so. A traditional bias toward excavation and the keeping of only basic site data has had effects that longer on today. Historically, and to the detriment of long-term site care, information has been collected with only fundamental concerns such as location and interpretation in mind. Excavation was favored over in-place conservation, under the assumption that the latter was too complicated and expensive. But the true cost of the excavation if often more than anticipated, and often grows as the curation of objects is projected into the future. Toward Proactive Management Archeological Site Management Dat

Technical Brief 17: Developing an Archeological Site Conservation Database

Though the conservation and long-term management of archeological sites is not generally accepted wisdom, it wasn’t always so. A traditional bias toward excavation and the keeping of only basic site data has had effects that longer on today. Historically, and to the detriment of long-term site care, information has been collected with only fundamental concerns such as location and interpretation in mind. Excavation was favored over in-place conservation, under the assumption that the latter was too complicated and expensive. But the true cost of the excavation if often more than anticipated, and often grows as the curation of objects is projected into the future. Toward Proactive Management Archeological Site Management Dat

Hope in dirt: report of the Fort Apache Workshop on Forensic Sedimentology Applications to Cultural Property Crime, 15—19 October 2018

A 2018 workshop on the White Mountain Apache Tribe lands in Arizona examined ways to enhance investigations into cultural property crime (CPC) through applications of rapidly evolving methods from archaeological science. CPC (also looting, graverobbing) refers to unauthorized damage, removal, or trafficking in materials possessing blends of communal, aesthetic, and scientific values. The Fort Apache workshop integrated four generally partitioned domains of CPC expertise: (1) theories of perpetrators’ motivations and methods; (2) recommended practice in sustaining public and community opposition to CPC; (3) tactics and strategies for documenting, investigating, and prosecuting CPC; and (4) forensic sedimentology—uses of biophysical sciences to link sediments from implicated persons and objects to crime scenes. Forensic sedimentology served as the touchstone for dialogues among experts in criminology, archaeological sciences, law enforcement, and heritage stewardship. Field visits to CPC crime scenes and workshop deliberations identified pathways toward integrating CPC theory and practice with forensic sedimentology’s potent battery of analytic methods

Technical Brief 20: Archeological Resource Damage Assessment: Legal Basis and Methods

Introduction The criminal and civil penalty sections of the Archaeological Resources Protection Act (16 USC 470aa-mm; ARPA) require the assessment of damage to archeological resources that are harmed by unauthorized acts. Archeological resource damage assessment uses the methods of archeology to provide the information necessary to prove that the archeological elements of a criminal or civil violation of ARPA are met according to the requirements of the law and the judicial system (see Figure 1). The assessment of damages to archeological resources in archeological violation cases cannot be carried out without reference to these legal requirements. In other words, archeological resource damage assessments require both archeological expertise and adherence to legal requirements. The purpose of this technical brief is to describe and explain the archeological resource damage assessment process. The legal basis of archeological resource damage assessment is presented by identifying the elements that must be proven for the prosecution of either a criminal or civil violation of ARPA. The Act\u27s definition of an “archeological resource” also is discussed because it is a critical component of the elements of a violation and is a central issue in damage assessment. The remainder of the technical brief describes and explains the three components of archeological resource damage assessment: (1) field damage assessment; (2) value and cost determinations; and (3) archeological resource damage assessment report preparation. Procedures are recommended for accomplishing each of these damage assessment components. Archeological Elements of an ARPA Criminal Violation Black\u27s Law Dictionary (2005:559) defines “elements of crime” as, “The constituent parts of a crime … that the prosecution must prove to sustain a conviction”. The archeological elements of an ARPA criminal violation come directly from the statute: • 16 U. S. C. § 470ee. Prohibited acts and criminal penalties • (a) Unauthorized excavation, removal, damage, alteration, or defacement of archaeological resources No person may excavate, remove, damage, or otherwise alter or deface, or attempt to excavate, remove, damage, or otherwise alter or deface any archaeological resource located on public lands or Indian lands unless such activity is pursuant to a permit issued under section 470cc of this title, a permit referred to in section 470cc(h)(2) of this title, or the exemption contained in section 470cc(g)(1) of this title. • (b) Trafficking in archaeological resources the excavation or removal of which was wrongful under Federal law No person may sell, purchase, exchange, transport, receive, or offer to sell, purchase, or exchange any archaeological resource if such resource was excavated or removed from public lands or Indian lands in violation of— (1) the prohibition contained in subsection (a) of this section, or (2) any provision, rule, regulation, ordinance, or permit in effect under any other provision of Federal law. • (c) Trafficking in interstate or foreign commerce in archaeological resources the excavation, removal, sale, purchase, exchange, transportation or receipt of which was wrongful under State or local law No person may sell, purchase, exchange, transport, receive, or offer to sell, purchase, or exchange, in interstate or foreign commerce, any archaeological resource excavated, removed, sold, purchased, exchanged, transported, or received in violation of any provision, rule, regulation, ordinance, or permit in effect under State or local law. • (d) Penalties Any person who knowingly violates, or counsels, procures, solicits, or employs any other person to violate, any prohibition contained in subsection (a), (b), or (c) of this section shall, upon conviction, be fined not more than $10,000 or imprisoned not more than one year, or both: Provided, however, That if the commercial or archaeological value of the archaeological resources involved and the cost of restoration and repair of such resources exceeds the sum of$500, such person shall be fined not more than $20,000 or imprisoned not more than two years, or both. In the case of a second or subsequent such violation upon conviction such person shall be fined not more than$100,000, or imprisoned not more than five years, or both. Archeological Elements of an ARPA Civil Violation Archeological Resources Protected by ARPA Field Damage Assessment Value and Cost Determination Commercial Value Procedures for Determination of Commercial Value. Archeological Value Procedures for Determination of Archeological Value. Examples of Categories of Scientific Information Retrieval Operations in an Archeological Value Determination Cost of Restoration and Repair Procedures for Determination of Cost of Restoration and Repair Examples of Categories of Emergency and Projected Restoration and Repair Operations in a Cost of Restoration and Repair Determination Archeological Resource Damage Assessment Report Preparation Report Topics Basic Stylistic Rules Procedures for Archeological Resource Damage Assessment Report Preparation Summary and Conclusions Appendix A Appendix B References Author’s Acknowledgements NPS Archeology Program Acknowledgement

The Road to the Antiquities Act and Basic Preservation Policies It Established

3 pages