Ethics Policies for Archaeological & Ethnological Resources

Adopted 1984, Revised 1996

National Archaeological Resources

The excavation, removal, damage or alteration of irreplaceable archaeological resources on public lands and Indian lands for commercial or personal reasons is prohibited by the Archaeological Resource Protection Act of 1979. The resources protected by the Act are found throughout the coterminous United States, Alaska and Hawaii, and the islands of the Caribbean and the Western Pacific. The Museum Store Association supports all existing federal, state, local, legislative and administrative regulations that prohibit the illegal excavations of archaeological resources for commercial or personal reasons.

Archaeological resources excavated or removed from public lands remain the property of the United States government. Archaeological resources removed or excavated from Indian lands remain the property of the Indian or Indian tribe having rights to or ownership of such resources. The Museum Store Association recognizes the relationship between the marketplace and the destructive removal of objects for the commercial markets. The Museum Store Association disapproves of the purchase, sale or exchange of any archaeological resource or any offer to sell, purchase or exchange said archaeological resource, if the resource was excavated or removed in violation of any provision, rule, regulation, ordinance or permit in effect under a different provision of federal, state or local laws.

The Museum Store Association adopts the following definitions, which are taken from the Archaeological Resource Protection Act of 1979, and retains them as guidelines in determining the status of archaeological resources.

1. Material remains are of “archaeological interest” if, through their scientific study and analysis, information and knowledge can be obtained concerning past human life or activities.
   
   
2. “Archaeological resource” means any material remains of past human life or activities that are of archaeological interest and are at least 100 years of age and the physical site, location or context in which they are found.
   
   
3. “Material remains of past human life or activities” means physical evidence of human habitation, occupation, use or activity, including but not limited to:
   
   
1. surface or subsurface structures, shelters, facilities or features.
   
   
2. surface or subsurface artifact concentrations or scatters and the three-dimensional relationship of artifacts to each other in the ground.
   
   
3. whole or fragmentary tools, implements, containers, weapons and weapon projectiles, clothing and ornaments (including but not limited to pottery and other ceramics, basketry, cordage, weavings, coins, bullets, bottles and other glassware, flaked stone, ground stone, pecked stone, worked bone, metal, wood, hide, feathers and pigments).
   
   
4. by-products, waste products or debris resulting from manufacture or use of manmade or natural materials.
   
   
5. rock carvings, rock paintings, intaglios and other works of artistic or symbolic representations.
   
   
6. portions of shipwrecks (including but not limited to armaments, apparel, tackle and cargo).
   
   
7. paleontological remains when they are found in a direct physical relationship with archaeological resources.
   
   
8. arrowheads, including any metal or stone projectile point triangular in configuration specifically designed and/or used for an arrow.

National Ethnological Resources

Current law does not protect Native American ethnological materials. For many years collectors, art dealers, anthropologists, tourists and others have bought, traded or taken (in some cases, illegally) objects of a sacred and religious nature from Indian reservations. (General Federal Criminal Procedure Law, 18 U.S.C. 1163, has been used to recover a sacred object that was being offered for sale at a private auction). To avoid improperly or illegally collected materials, members of the Museum Store Association can consult with their curators, the American Indian Religious Freedom Act of 1979, the Native American Graves Protection Repatriation Act of 1990, federal wildlife laws and regulations and the guidelines and policies of their own institutions.

International Archaeological & Ethnological Resources

The Museum Store Association supports the following international UNESCO Convention and legislation that establish principles for the control of the trade in the international exchange of archaeological and ethnological materials as well as certain other cultural materials and antiquities.

1. The UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export, and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property.
   
   
2. Title II of the U.S. Miscellaneous Tariff, Trade, and Customs Act of 1982, implementing the UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export, and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property.
   
   
3. Title 18 of the United States — The National Stolen Properties Act and its amendment included in Title II of the U.S. Miscellaneous Tariff, Trade, and Customs Act of 1982.
   
   
4. Title 19 of the United States Code — The Importation of Pre-Columbian Monumental or Architectural Sculptural Murals.

Ethics Policies for Archaeological & Ethnological Resources

The Museum Store Association urges that its members refrain from purchasing international archaeological or ethnological materials exported from the country of origin in contravention of the terms of the UNESCO Convention.

Under the provisions of Title II of the U.S. Miscellaneous Tariff, Trade, and Customs Act of 1982, the specific types of archaeological or ethnological materials that will be restricted must be identified. Section 205 of the Act authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to list such material by type or other classification. Each listing must be sufficiently specific and precise to serve the two purposes of ensuring that (1) the import restrictions are applied only to material covered by the agreement or emergency action; and (2) importers and other interested parties are provided fair notice of what archaeological or ethnological materials are subject to import restrictions.

1. Documentation of ethnological material is of prime importance in dispelling any doubts about its legal ownership and export. Any Museum Store Association member who has doubts regarding the purchase of certain ethnological materials can contact the MSA office for references to the above laws and codes. The MSA office will periodically contact the office of the Secretary of the Treasury regarding the listing of archaeological and ethnological materials subject to import restrictions.
   
   
2. If any question arises during the MSA Exposition regarding the sale of undocumented objects or objects of doubtful origin or authenticity from dealers, the dealer must produce the following information upon request:
   
   
1. documentation of lawful exportation
   
   
2. satisfactory evidence that such material was exported from a country that has ratified the UNESCO Convention (the United States has ratified the Convention with the passage of the Miscellaneous Tariff, Trade, and Customs Act of 1982).
   
   
1. not less than 10 years before the date of such entry
   
   
2. on or before the effective date of the legislation prescribed under Section 205 (the listing of ethnological and archaeological materials by the secretary of the Treasury.)

The UNESCO Convention does not include a definition of international archaeological and ethnological materials. The Museum Store Association adopts the following definitions for international archaeological and ethnological materials taken from Title II of the Miscellaneous Tariff, Trade, and Customs Act of 1982 as guidelines in the determination of status.

1. “archaeological material” is defined as an object that is of cultural significance, that is at least 250 years old and that normally has been discovered through scientific excavation, clandestine or accidental digging, or exploration on land or under water.
   
   
2. “ethnological material” is considered to be any object that is the product of a tribal or similar society and is important to the cultural heritage of a people because of its distinctive characteristics, its comparative rarity or its contribution to the knowledge of their origins, development or history.
   
   
3. The Cultural Property Advisory Committee intends this definition to encompass only what is sometimes termed “primitive” or “tribal” art, such as masks, idols or totem poles, produced by tribal societies.
   
   
1. Such objects must be important to a cultural heritage by possessing characteristics that distinguish them from other objects in the same category providing particular insights into the origins and history of a people.
   
   
2. The committee does not intend the definitions of ethnological material under this Title II to apply to trinkets and other objects that are common or repetitive or essentially alike in material, design, color or other outstanding characteristics with other objects of the same type, or that have relatively little value for the understanding of the origins or history of a particular people or society.
   
   
3. Authentic contemporary crafts of articles used or made by distinct tribal members specifically for sale to the tourist market, or in the category of Airport Art, are not included in the committee's definition of ethnological material.

The manufacture and sale of replicas, reproductions or adaptations or archaeological, paleontological or historical objects for commercial use is permissible within certain guidelines. All aspects of the commercial venture must be carried out in a manner that will not discredit either the integrity of the museum shop or the intrinsic value of the original object. The replica must be permanently identified and not be misrepresented in any manner as an original archaeological, paleontological or historical object.

It is the responsibility of Museum Store Association members and affiliates to apply the appropriate definitions and to exercise care in the purchase and resale of unique and unusual ethnological materials. The Museum Store Association will institute a periodic review to ensure these policies remain current and consistent with the national legislation.