13 Tex. Admin. Code § 26.17 - Principal Investigator's Responsibilities for Disposition of Archeological Artifacts and Data
(a) Processing.
Principal investigators who receive permits shall be responsible for cleaning,
conserving, cataloguing, packaging in archival materials; arranging for the
curation of all collections, specimens, samples, and records; and for the
reporting of results of the investigation.
(b) Ownership. All specimens, artifacts,
materials, samples, original field notes, maps, drawings, photographs, and
standard state site survey forms resulting from the investigations remain the
property of State of Texas. Certain exceptions left to the discretion of the
Commission are contained in Texas Natural Resources Code, §
191.052 (b).
The Commission will determine the final disposition of all artifacts,
specimens, materials, and data recovered by investigations on landmarks or
potential landmarks, which remain the property of the State. Antiquities from
landmarks are of inestimable historical and scientific value and should be
preserved and utilized in such a way as to benefit all the citizens of Texas.
Such antiquities shall never be used for commercial exploitation.
(c) Housing, conserving, and exhibiting
antiquities from landmarks.
(1) After
investigation of a landmark has culminated in the reporting of results, the
antiquities will be permanently preserved in research collections at the
curatorial facility approved by the Commission Prior to the expiration of the
permit, proof that archeological collections and related field notes are housed
in a curatorial facility is required through the submission of a curation form.
Failure to demonstrate proof before the permit expiration date may result in
the principal investigator and co-principal investigator falling into default
status.
(2) Institutions housing
antiquities from landmarks will also be responsible for adequate security of
the collections, continued conservation, periodic inventory, and for making the
collections available to qualified institutions, individuals, or corporations
for research purposes.
(3) Exhibits
of materials recovered from landmarks will be designed in such a way as to
provide the maximum amount of historical, scientific, archeological, and
educational information to all the citizens of Texas. First preference will be
given to traveling exhibits following guidelines provided by the Commission and
originating at an adequate facility nearest the point of recovery. Permanent
exhibits of antiquities may be prepared by institutions maintaining such
collections following guidelines provided by the Commission. A variety of
special, short-term exhibits may also be authorized by the
Commission.
(d) Pursuant
to Texas Natural Resources Code, §§
191.091 -
191.092, all
antiquities found on land or under waters belonging to the State of Texas or
any political subdivision of the State belong to the State of Texas. The
Commission is charged with the administration of the Antiquities Code of Texas
and exercises the authority of the State in matters related to these
held-in-trust collections.
(e)
Decisions regarding the disposal or destructive analysis of held-in-trust
collections are the legal responsibility of the Commission. Acceptable
circumstances for disposal or destructive analysis are provided by this
chapter. Exceptions may be considered by the Commission. Under no circumstances
will held-in-trust collections be disposed of through sale.
(f) Disposal. The Commission's rules for
disposal apply to state-associated collections prior to accessioning from an
archeological project on public land or under public water under an Antiquities
Permit issued by the Commission.
(1) Disposal
of state-associated collections from a site on public land or from public water
under an antiquities permit issued by the Commission must be approved by the
Commission. Approval for anticipated disposal is by means of an approved
research design at the time the Antiquities Permit is issued. The manner in
which any state-associated collection is to be disposed must be included in the
research design. Additional disposal not included in the approved research
design must be approved by the Commission prior to any disposal
action.
(2) The appropriate reasons
for disposal of state-associated collections include, but are not limited to,
the following:
(A) are highly redundant and
without additional merit.
(B) lack
historical, cultural, or scientific value.
(C) have decayed or decomposed beyond
reasonable use and repair or by their condition constitute a hazard to other
objects in the collection.
(D) may
be subject to disposal as required by federal laws.
(3) State-associated collections disposed of
after recovery must be documented in the notes and final report, with copies
provided to the curatorial facility.
(4) The Commission relinquishes title for the
State to any state-associated collections approved for disposal. The
state-associated collections must be disposed of in a suitable
manner.
(g) Destructive
Analysis. The Commission's rules for destructive analysis apply to
state-associated collections that are accessioned and held-in-trust by a
certified repository as stated in 13 TAC §
29.5(g)
(relating to Disposition of State Affiliated Collections). All analysis of
artifacts, including human remains, that is destructive in nature and conducted
prior to accessioning must be covered by the research design approved for the
Antiquities Permit.
Notes
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