Law in Archaeology

Zusammenfassung -Während in Deutschland Open Access (OA) in der Archäologie eine immer größere Rolle spielt, wurde die freie Zugänglichkeit zu Publikationen in Ungarn eher stiefmütterlich behandelt. Auf der einen Seite gibt es zwar inzwischen von Seiten der Regierung sowie der größten Wissenschaftsinstitute und Geldgeber Vorgaben, die eine OA-Publikation vorschreiben. Dies führte jedoch auf der anderen Seite zu einer Passivität der Forscher gegenüber OA: Viele sind oft kaum bereit, ihre Arbeiten druckreif zu präsentieren, wenn diese "nur" im Internet erscheinen. Dies scheint eine Reaktion auf die Pflicht zur OA-Publikation zu sein, ohne dass den Wissenschaftlern die Idee des OA nähergebracht wurde. So landen die meisten Publikationen auf institutionellen Repositorien, anstatt dass sie ihren Weg in OA-Zeitschriften mit wesentlich höherer Reichweite finden. Dabei wäre die freie Zugänglichkeit zu Informationen gerade für die archäologische Forschung in Ungarn unerlässlich. Nicht nur den kleinen Provinzmuseen, auch den großen Museen und Bibliotheken in Budapest fehlen finanzielle Mittel für Neuanschaffungen. Hieraus entwickelte sich u. a. die Magyar Múzeumi Digitális Könyvtár (Digitale Bibliothek der ungarischen Museen), und auch mit der neuen OA-Zeitschrift Magyar Régészet (Ungarische Archäologie) wird in jüngster Zeit ein Weg eingeschlagen, der OA in der ungarischen Archäologie populärer machen soll.

Since February 2010, the issue of Users of Metal Detectors (UMDs) has been a hot topic in France. If the issue unleashed passions, although this has not really been reflected in the French media, a question is implicitly linked to the subject: apart from preventing the very real danger of new archaeological sites being destroyed, will this spell the end of amateur archaeology? With the creation of the National Archaeological Excavations Association (INRAP) in 1973, which became a public service called the National Institute for Preventative Archaeological Research in 2002, coupled with the growth of private companies in archaeology, the professionalisation of French archaeology has significantly changed the relationship between this profession and amateur archaeologists. This evolution now underlines the ambiguous position of the French state, which, on the one hand, supports the contributions of civil society to the profession, yet on the other hand, is still very suspicious about organisations that are not directly dependent upon the state. After a quick review of relevant legislation and the evolution of French archaeology, we will present a profile of the UMDs, their impact on archaeology and the reactions to this subject by professionals as well as the state, communities and citizens. Then, we will broaden the issue by asking if UMDs represent the only human danger for archaeology. Finally, we will discuss potential solutions to the problem of looting while still encouraging the involvement and recognition of amateur archaeologists and citizens committed to the protection of French heritage.

In this thesis, I explore the legal status of archaeologically-recovered material obtained during development-driven fieldwork. To address this research, the contract and practice relating to development-driven archaeological work is analysed through a number of case studies, as well as pertinent property law, court cases, Acts of Parliament, national policies and international regulations and conventions, that form the corpus of legal literature relevant to archaeological work undertaken in England.
My research has shown that ownership of, and title to, archaeologically-recovered objects transfers from landowners to archaeologists during the course of CRM-based (Cultural Resource Management) pre-development archaeology projects, on the condition that the landowner does not assert an intention to maintain title to the objects. Archaeologically-recovered objects belong to the organisation holding them, under the stipulation that the work was carried out under a valid contract. Contractual archaeological investigations resulting in lawful possession of recovered items imply an entitlement to the possession of the recovered material by virtue of the collection and retention of the items being a well-known practice that has been taking place for many years. As such, archaeologists’ practice of obtaining and retaining objects discovered during fieldwork constitutes an implied contractual term incorporated into all pre-development archaeological field investigative work undertaken in England. Archaeology industry guidelines and policies applicable to projects which take place in England should thus be amended to accurately reflect this position and resolve perceived uncertainties regarding title to collections of recovered items.
A concomitant issue addressed in this thesis concerns access to and use of material, data and information which remain with the archaeology contractor because the amount of accumulated material exceeds the storage capacity of museums. This situation, in combination with perceived legal uncertainties, hinders the use of recovered material in a way which is beneficial to society. Here I use case studies and analysis of scholarly literature to illustrate and examine these issues.