Did you know it’s illegal to keep artifacts found on public land?
Find an artifact on public land? Leave it be or face possible fines and jail time.
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - I was on private land this past Sunday and happened to find an arrowhead. It was the first one I’ve ever found and I honestly wasn’t looking for it. Pure serendipity hit me when I just happened to look down at my boot and see a bright white arrowhead laying in a food plot. My mind instantly started racing with questions like, “how old is it?”, “who made it?”, “how did it end up here?”, and after a little research, I found keeping artifacts could get you in trouble.
Dr. Lita Sacks, a lecturer of anthropology at Augusta University, says, “if we are talking about state of federal property, it is illegal to pick up anything you find and it is illegal to dig. You can face fines and jail time for picking up artifacts on state or federal land and that includes riverbeds and bases of streams”.
According to 16 U.S. Code § 470ee Section D: “Any person who knowingly violates, or counsels, procures, solicits, or employs any other person to violate, any prohibition contained in subsection (a), (b), or (c) of this section shall, upon conviction, be fined not more than $10,000 or imprisoned not more than one year, or both: Provided, however, That if the commercial or archaeological value of the archaeological resources involved and the cost of restoration and repair of such resources exceeds the sum of $500, such person shall be fined not more than $20,000 or imprisoned not more than two years, or both. In the case of a second or subsequent such violation upon conviction such person shall be fined not more than $100,000, or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.”
But there is a loophole for arrowheads found on the surface of public land. According to 16 U.S. Code § 470ee Section G, “Nothing in subsection (d) of this section shall be deemed applicable to any person with respect to the removal of arrowheads located on the surface of the ground”. Reference: Cornell Law School
Luckily, I found the tip Sunday on private land. Dr. Sacks added, “on private land, as long as you have written permission from the landowner, you are allowed to pick up anything you find on the ground surface”.
If you are on public land and happen to find an artifact then the best thing to do is take pictures and drop a pin on a map to save the location. Dr. Sacks says you can take that information to, “the National Forest Service or you can contact the Historic Preservation Division of Georgia Department of Natural Resources and they can put you in contact with archaeologists that know more about it and they may even want to excavate what you found”.
Leaving artifacts in there original state helps Scientists. Dr. Sacks added, “context is key. So just as important as the artifact itself is knowing exactly where it was found, the orientation it was in, and if anything was found next to it”. She also added, “for them (Native Americans), their past continuously informs their present religion and culture, so modifying something from their past can have cultural repercussions”.
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