# If I find an Archaeological site behind my house, are the contents mine? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 9, 2007, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-find-an-archaeological-site-behind-my-house-are-the-contents-mine/411066 "2007-07-09T18:08:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2007, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-find-an-archaeological-site-behind-my-house-are-the-contents-mine/411066/1 "2007-07-09T18:08:39Z")
I like to think of myself as an amateur archaeologist/geologist/historian - liker of lost cool things…I was wondering, I have a decent amount of land that my home is on (11 acres) and another plot of land on a lake nearby (6 acres). I have found some cool things on the land including [arrow heads](http://s143.photobucket.com/albums/r156/Phlosphr/?action=view¤t=arrowhead009.jpg) , large stone mortars, old cisterns, foundations and wells. What I was wondering in my ever present search for knowledge is: If I find a significant colonial settlement/ old Pequot encampment - would the artifacts found therein be mine or the states? I’ve collected many, many old artifacts like the arrowhead shown and old wagon wheels, tools, some colonial some much, much older. Is it finders keepers if it is on my land? Or does the date of an object corresponde to a different ownership? ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2007, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-find-an-archaeological-site-behind-my-house-are-the-contents-mine/411066/2 "2007-07-09T18:20:39Z")
Well, ask the Mayor of the Shire. 😛 For those of us not living in Middle Earth, the laws vary quite a bit nation by nation and even state by state. ---
**Author:** ![Ol\_Gaffer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Ol\_Gaffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ol_Gaffer)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2007, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-find-an-archaeological-site-behind-my-house-are-the-contents-mine/411066/3 "2007-07-09T20:32:39Z")
The artifacts are yours. The federal laws which cover archaeological sites only have jursdiction over resources located on federal lands and/or resources impacted by projects which have a federal entailment (i.e. FERC is licensing a transmission line which runs across your property - the utility company is required to deal with the ramifications of their project to the site). However, even in the example I gave, if artifacts were collected and studied during the course of the project, they would be returned to you if you so choose. Human remains are a slightly different case in that if you find a burial the law requires the coroner to determine whether or not it is a crime scene. In any case, I just wanted to say (request actually) that you tread lightly over locations of known archaeological material. Sites are finite resources and many, many are destroyed every year. A site that has been dug, whether through pot-hunting or careful excavation, is destroyed in either case. ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2007, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-find-an-archaeological-site-behind-my-house-are-the-contents-mine/411066/4 "2007-07-09T21:18:31Z")
[QUOTE=Ol’Gaffer] Human remains are a slightly different case in that if you find a burial the law requires the coroner to determine whether or not it is a crime scene. [/QUOTE] Would finding a 10,000-year-old axe lodged in a 10,000-year-old skull count as a crime scene? ---
**Author:** ![Ol\_Gaffer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Ol\_Gaffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ol_Gaffer)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2007, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-find-an-archaeological-site-behind-my-house-are-the-contents-mine/411066/5 "2007-07-09T21:26:16Z")
I doubt it, but the discovery would definitely get you into _National Geographic_! ---
**Author:** ![Triskadecamus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b19c9b/32.png) [@Triskadecamus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Triskadecamus)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2007, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-find-an-archaeological-site-behind-my-house-are-the-contents-mine/411066/6 "2007-07-09T21:31:27Z")
[QUOTE=psychonaut] Would finding a 10,000-year-old axe lodged in a 10,000-year-old skull count as a crime scene? [/QUOTE] Well, there is no statute of limitations on murder, but I think any current jurisdictional charges would involve ex post facto law. Ten thousand years ago, there was no law, so any murder would be covered by the concept that the law only covers subsequent events. Tris ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2007, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-find-an-archaeological-site-behind-my-house-are-the-contents-mine/411066/7 "2007-07-09T22:21:16Z")
> [@](#): > > If I find an Archaeological site behind my house, are the contents mine? Don’t even _think_ of trying to sell them. There are now laws governing international trafficing in artifacts. You\*\* can\*\* get busted, if you sell em, & they wind up overseas. ---
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2007, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-find-an-archaeological-site-behind-my-house-are-the-contents-mine/411066/8 "2007-07-09T23:13:22Z")
[QUOTE=Bosda Di’Chi of Tricor] Don’t even _think_ of trying to sell them. There are now laws governing international trafficing in artifacts. You\*\* can\*\* get busted, if you sell em, & they wind up overseas. [/QUOTE] I would never, EVER sell anything I have found. Ask my wife. She laments the “stuff” I have in boxes in the basement. I call them artifacts, she calls it ‘shit-in-the-boxes’. I collect old things. Also, I have the highest respect for archaeological sites. The things in my back yard are mostly middens and the like. The arrowhead I linked too was probably a rarity. I’m just asking if I find something ‘significant’ whose is it? Some of the people in the circles I hang in are archaeologists and some have said that they are the states, others say they belong to the tribe to which they come from, others say they are mine. Our house is a varitable museum as it is, with all the old oak cases filled with old books and cool artifacts…What can I say, I like cool old things. ---
**Author:** ![Ol\_Gaffer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Ol\_Gaffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ol_Gaffer)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2007, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-find-an-archaeological-site-behind-my-house-are-the-contents-mine/411066/9 "2007-07-09T23:30:41Z")
[QUOTE=Phlosphr] I’m just asking if I find something ‘significant’ whose is it? Some of the people in the circles I hang in are archaeologists and some have said that they are the states, others say they belong to the tribe to which they come from, others say they are mine. [/QUOTE] Even if the site is evaluated as “significant” under the National Register of Historic Places criteria (a formal process which requires concurrence from your State Historic Preservation Officer and the Advisory Council) you still own the property and the artifacts. Arguably, one of the most important “discoveries” in the past 25 years is Range Creek Canyon in Utah which contains hundreds and hundreds of perfectly preserved _in situ_ sites. The landowner, Waldo Wilcox, owned the entire canyon until he sold it to the feds around 2001. Prior to the sale and had he so chosen, he could have done whatever he wanted to with the resources. As I said, the NHPA, ARPA, NEPA, Section 4(f) of the DTA, AIRFA, NAGPRA (with some exceptions), and many other laws, acts, and executive orders are only applicable to sites which are under some kind of federal jurisdiction, whether it be direct management or through licensing, funding, permitting, etc. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2007, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-find-an-archaeological-site-behind-my-house-are-the-contents-mine/411066/10 "2007-07-09T23:40:34Z")
[QUOTE=Phlosphr] I I’m just asking if I find something ‘significant’ whose is it? Some of the people in the circles I hang in are archaeologists and some have said that they are the states, others say they belong to the tribe to which they come from, others say they are mine. . [/QUOTE] You still have not identifed what State you live in. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2007, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-find-an-archaeological-site-behind-my-house-are-the-contents-mine/411066/11 "2007-07-10T00:13:05Z")
[QUOTE=DrDeth] You still have not identifed what State you live in. 😕 [/QUOTE] Sorry, Connecticut, southeast corner. Lot’s of old homesteads left to ruin all over. Pequots, Mohegans and Narragansetts settled the lands before the pilgrims. ---
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2007, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-find-an-archaeological-site-behind-my-house-are-the-contents-mine/411066/12 "2007-07-10T13:46:48Z")
Also, the Mohegans especially, have been buying up old properties that have historical significance. ---
**Author:** ![Gfactor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2007, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-find-an-archaeological-site-behind-my-house-are-the-contents-mine/411066/13 "2007-07-10T14:05:17Z")
This is a good resource on state Native American burial site laws: [http://www.ibsgwatch.imagedjinn.com/learn/connecticutlaw.htm](http://www.ibsgwatch.imagedjinn.com/learn/connecticutlaw.htm) (unsurprisingly, it mostly deals with burial grounds, and then mostly on state-owned land). And here is a summary of Connecticut’s law of finds: [http://www.jud.ct.gov/lawlib/Notebooks/Pathfinders/Abandoned.htm](http://www.jud.ct.gov/lawlib/Notebooks/Pathfinders/Abandoned.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2007, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-find-an-archaeological-site-behind-my-house-are-the-contents-mine/411066/14 "2007-07-10T14:22:59Z")
Are you treating the area as an archaeological site? That is, have you recorded the locations of your finds? Have you had anything dated? Have you done any non-invasive surveys? According to the laws of your state, you probably “own” these things–unless they are pre-Columbian grave goods. Consider contacting your state’s [archaeology office](http://archnet.asu.edu/archives/crm/conn/ctosa/ctosa.html). Perhaps an archaeologist and/or some amateurs could help you extract more knowledge from the site than you can, by yourself. ---
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2007, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-find-an-archaeological-site-behind-my-house-are-the-contents-mine/411066/15 "2007-07-10T14:46:04Z")
[QUOTE=Bridget Burke] Are you treating the area as an archaeological site? That is, have you recorded the locations of your finds? Have you had anything dated? Have you done any non-invasive surveys? According to the laws of your state, you probably “own” these things–unless they are pre-Columbian grave goods. Consider contacting your state’s [archaeology office](http://archnet.asu.edu/archives/crm/conn/ctosa/ctosa.html). Perhaps an archaeologist and/or some amateurs could help you extract more knowledge from the site than you can, by yourself. [/QUOTE] If by ‘non-invasive’ you mean have I grid out the property and not torn everything up? No. I have not made a grid, and I have not torn everything up. We know who the foundation belongs to, or belonged to, but we don’t know if there is anything else under it. As a weekend amateur I’ll not disturb it without going through the proper channels. I’ve covered the old cisterns so no one falls in them, but other than that…digging through old middens and the like is just a hobby. ---
**Author:** ![t-mobileguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/65b543/32.png) [@t-mobileguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/t-mobileguy)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2007, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-find-an-archaeological-site-behind-my-house-are-the-contents-mine/411066/16 "2007-07-10T15:56:03Z")
[QUOTE=Bosda Di’Chi of Tricor] Don’t even _think_ of trying to sell them. There are now laws governing international trafficing in artifacts. You\*\* can\*\* get busted, if you sell em, & they wind up overseas. [/QUOTE] Why would he get busted? If I’m weeding in my back yard and dig up _Excalibur_, as I understand it I own it, why can I not sell it to whom ever I chose? I’m not trying to be snarky but I really don’t understand that part. ---
**Author:** ![MichaelQReilly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@MichaelQReilly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelQReilly)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2007, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-find-an-archaeological-site-behind-my-house-are-the-contents-mine/411066/17 "2007-07-10T18:38:26Z")
Too lazy to look it up, but I’ve read in the _Courant_ before that we have a State Archaeologist/Historian (from Uconn?) who is in charge of overseeing things like this. Check the website for the [Connecticut Commision of Culture and Tourism](http://www.cultureandtourism.org/cct/site/default.asp). I think they might be the ones who are in charge of this stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Ol\_Gaffer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Ol\_Gaffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ol_Gaffer)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2007, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-find-an-archaeological-site-behind-my-house-are-the-contents-mine/411066/18 "2007-07-10T19:14:35Z")
Every state has an Office of Historic Preservation and a State Historic Preservation Officer (SHPO). They represent the interests of the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation with regard to projects that have a federal entailment. The link that **MichaelQReilly** provided is to the Connecticut SHPO. ---
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2007, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-find-an-archaeological-site-behind-my-house-are-the-contents-mine/411066/19 "2007-07-10T19:26:40Z")
[QUOTE=MichaelQReilly] Too lazy to look it up, but I’ve read in the _Courant_ before that we have a State Archaeologist/Historian (from Uconn?) who is in charge of overseeing things like this. Check the website for the [Connecticut Commision of Culture and Tourism](http://www.cultureandtourism.org/cct/site/default.asp). I think they might be the ones who are in charge of this stuff. [/QUOTE] Agreed, and they do regulate quite a lot in my town. For instance, a man in Stonington a few years ago was told he could not paint his home a different color than white - against borough rules or some such - so in the middle of the night he painted it black. The historical society when bizerk and he eventually painted it ivory - not white, but off white… I called our local historical society and they told me who lived on this land, but that they were not interested in the old middens - colonial junk heaps - and that the site must have been picked through over the years, however they did not have an accurate date or time. I dunno. I’ll wait until fall and see what I can see under the leaves. ---
**Author:** ![MichaelQReilly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@MichaelQReilly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelQReilly)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2007, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-find-an-archaeological-site-behind-my-house-are-the-contents-mine/411066/20 "2007-07-10T19:43:06Z")
[QUOTE=Phlosphr] Agreed, and they do regulate quite a lot in my town. For instance, a man in Stonington a few years ago was told he could not paint his home a different color than white - against borough rules or some such - so in the middle of the night he painted it black. The historical society when bizerk and he eventually painted it ivory - not white, but off white… I called our local historical society and they told me who lived on this land, but that they were not interested in the old middens - colonial junk heaps - and that the site must have been picked through over the years, however they did not have an accurate date or time. I dunno. I’ll wait until fall and see what I can see under the leaves. [/QUOTE] Before I quit teaching, I was working on my master’s in Public History at Central and had a class on preservation policy. One day we had two professors from the anthropology department come talk to us about the work they were doing excavating a former farm and slave burial ground in Salem, CT. Maybe someone like that would be interested in poking around. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-find-an-archaeological-site-behind-my-house-are-the-contents-mine/411066.md?page=2)