ACPAC Founding Resolution and Statement of Objectives:

WHEREAS, Archaeological collections are considered to be part of the historical and cultural heritage of the nation and the property of all citizens, and

WHEREAS, this position is made explicit in all federal legislation dealing with preservation of antiquities, including PL 96-515 (1980) and the Archaeological Resources Protection Act of 1979 (36CFR Part 1215), and

WHEREAS, it is required that applicants for a permit to perform archaeological research on federal land submit evidence that "...the university, museum, or other scientific or educational institution proposed in the application as the repository of archaeological collections, possesses adequate curatorial capability for

SAFEGUARDING AND PRESERVING the archaeological resources and all associated records...," and,

WHEREAS, these well established principles are the basis for the establishment and support of archaeological museum collections, and

WHEREAS, these same principles are the basis for requiring Environmental Impact Reports and associated archaeological excavations,


IT IS THEREFORE RESOLVED BY THE UNDERSIGNED COMMITTEE:

1. We reconfirm the professional and ethical duty of scholars to observe their responsibility to preserve and maintain for study by qualified scholars all archaeological collections obtained in the course of field investigations. Archaeological collections are defined as including historic and prehistoric artifacts, skeletal remains, faunal and floral specimens, soil samples, and all other materials removed from archaeological sites for purposes of study and investigation.

2. We urge individual archaeologists to abstain from participation in any field project, contract, or other archaeological program in which individuals have reason to believe that the collection obtained from archaeological research will be given up for destruction.

3. We urge teachers of anthropology to instruct students that the duty of all professional scholars is to preserve their data and make it available for examination by other scholars, and recognition that the basic data of archaeology are site collections. The loss of such collections eliminates the evidence on which archaeological conclusions are based.

4. We urge scholarly organizations in archaeology to enforce their statements of ethics and to treat knowing acts of destruction of archaeological materials (or complicity in such acts) as grounds for expulsion from the profession of archaeology.

ADOPTED BY THE ORGANIZING COMMITTEE, NOVEMBER 4, 1981, AT LONG BEACH, CALIFORNIA. AMERICAN COMMITTEE FOR THE PRESERVATION OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL COLLECTIONS.


|| ACPAC History || Founding Resolution and Objectives ||

|| Legal Focus || FAQ's || ACPAC Staff and Advisory Board Members ||

|| Sign-Up for the ACPAC Newsletter || Make a Donation ||

|| Contact ACPAC ||

|| Related Links ||

(Copyright © 1996 ElectroNet, Inc. All Rights Reserved)