An Act To Amend the Laws Pertaining to Archaeological Sites
Maine Legislature, Session 126, LD 0160
Committee: Education and Cultural Affairs
Sponsors: JORGENSEN, KATZ, DAUGHTRY, MONAGHAN-DERRIG, SOCTOMAH
Amends: 27 MRSA §373-A, 27 MRSA §374, 27 MRSA §375, 27 MRSA §376, 27 MRSA §377, 27 MRSA §378

Legislative Document 
No. 160 
H.P. 135 
House of Representatives, January 31, 2013 
An Act To Amend the Laws Pertaining to Archaeological Sites 
Reference to the Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs suggested and ordered 
printed. 
MILLICENT M. MacFARLAND 
Clerk 
Presented by Representative JORGENSEN of Portland. 
Cosponsored by Senator KATZ of Kennebec and 
Representatives: DAUGHTRY of Brunswick, MONAGHAN-DERRIG of Cape Elizabeth, 
SOCTOMAH of the Passamaquoddy Tribe. 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1.  27 MRSA §373-A, sub-§7-A is enacted to read: 
7-A.  Protected site. "Protected site" means a site that is: 
A.  On or under state-controlled land and is: 
(1)  Listed in the National Register of Historic Places or judged eligible for 
national register listing by the Maine Historic Preservation Commission and, if 
the area is judged eligible for listing, the site designation is approved by the 
appropriate land managing agency director or local governing body; and 
(2)  Posted; 
B.  The subject of a preservation agreement between the landowner or landowners 
and the Maine Historic Preservation Commission pursuant to Title 33, section 1551 
and is: 
(1)  Listed in the National Register of Historic Places; and 
(2)  Posted; or  
C.  Subject to section 378. 
Sec. 2.  27 MRSA §373-A, sub-§8, as amended by PL 1999, c. 748, §1, is further 
amended to read: 
8.  Site. "Site" means an area containing archaeological artifacts or materials or other 
evidence of habitation, occupation or other use by historic or prehistoric people, and 
which is either:. 
A.    On or under state-controlled land and is:  
(1)  Listed in the National Register of Historic Places or judged eligible for 
national register listing by the Maine Historic Preservation Commission and, if 
the area is judged eligible for listing, the site designation is approved by the 
appropriate land managing agency director or local governing body; and  
(2)  Posted; 
B.    The subject of a preservation agreement between the landowner or landowners 
and the Maine Historic Preservation Commission, pursuant to Title 33, section 1551 
and is:  
(1)  Listed in the National Register of Historic Places; and  
(2)  Posted; or 
C.    Subject to section 378. 
Sec. 3.  27 MRSA §374, as amended by PL 1989, c. 700, Pt. A, §113, is further 
amended to read: 
§374.  Legislative provisions 
1.  Purpose.  The people of this State benefit only when a protected site is 
systematically excavated, analyzed and interpreted by a qualified principal investigator. 
2.  Permit procedure.  The procedure for obtaining a permit to excavate a protected 
site shall be is as follows.  
A.  Any person, agency or institution desiring to excavate a protected site shall must 
submit a written application. 
B.  Application for a permit shall must be in the form of a letter and research proposal 
directed to the Director of the Maine Historic Preservation Commission and shall be 
accompanied by a copy of the preservation agreement attested by the Register of 
Deeds and the written permission of the landowner to proceed with the excavation. 
The landowner may give permission to excavate in the preservation agreement. 
C.  The permit to excavate shall must be cosigned by the Director of the Maine 
Historic Preservation Commission and the Director of the State Museum, except for 
state-controlled lands where the permit also shall must be cosigned by the director of 
the agency with primary jurisdiction. 
D.  The application shall must state the nature and specific location of the artifacts, 
specimens and materials to be removed, the legal name and address of the person, 
agency or institution seeking authorization and the date or dates on which the 
artifacts, specimens or materials are to be removed. 
E.  Upon receipt of an application, the permittors may issue a written permit 
authorizing the excavation of the protected site for such term and upon such 
conditions as they deem consider reasonable and which that are consistent with 
subsection 3. 
3.  Permit conditions.  The conditions which that may be imposed upon a permit are 
as follows.  
A.  In order to minimize damage to state-controlled lands and to artifacts, specimens 
or materials to be removed, and, in order to ensure the recording and preservation of 
significant data regarding those artifacts, specimens, materials or protected sites, the 
permit may set forth requirements or limitations regarding the methods and 
equipment to be employed in the removal, the procedures to be followed in 
documenting the removal and the report or reports, if any, to be submitted to officials 
or agencies of the State upon completion of the removal activities. 
B.  The permittors may require that an authorized representative of the State be 
present to witness and document the removal of artifacts, specimens or materials 
from state-controlled land. 
C.  The permit shall must clearly indicate the type of artifacts, specimens or materials 
to be removed, the location of the protected site, the time of the proposed removal 
activity or excavation, the legal name and address of the permittee and any other 
limitations and requirements that may be imposed by the permittors. 
D.  On excavations authorized by the permit process, the principal investigator should 
normally possess the minimum qualifications of a graduate degree in anthropology, 
archaeology or a related field, accompanied by institutional facilities to ensure proper 
conservation and curation of the artifacts, materials and specimens or extensive 
experience and demonstrated ability. 
4.  Permit revocation.  All permittors, or their authorized representatives, may 
revoke or suspend a permit if there is evidence to indicate that the permittee has violated 
or exceeded the limitations of his the permit, or if there is evidence to indicate that 
artifacts, materials or the protected site are being unnecessarily defaced, damaged or 
destroyed in the course of their removal. Any willful violation of the provisions or 
limitations of a permit is grounds for immediate revocation of the permit and shall must 
be construed as unauthorized excavation. 
5.  Permit possession.  The permit shall must be retained in the personal possession 
of the permittee during the course of removal activities, and shall must be made available 
for inspection upon demand of any authorized representative of the State. Any person or 
persons engaged in excavation on a protected site who do not produce a valid permit 
upon demand of an authorized representative of the State, are presumptively engaged in 
unauthorized excavation. 
Sec. 4.  27 MRSA §375, sub-§1, as enacted by PL 1981, c. 55, §7, is amended to 
read: 
1.  Definition of unlawful excavation.  "Unlawful excavation" means unauthorized 
excavation at a protected site, unless:  
A.  A demonstrable emergency situation existed relating to the survival of the 
protected site; and 
B.  An excavation permit is immediately applied for in accordance with section 374. 
Sec. 5.  27 MRSA §376, as amended by PL 1989, c. 700, Pt. A, §114, is further 
amended to read: 
§376.  Antiquities recovered from protected sites 
1.  State-owned artifacts to remain in Maine.  No artifacts, objects, specimens or 
materials originating from a protected site on state-controlled land may be authorized to 
leave the State permanently without written permission of the permittors. They may be 
loaned for a term specified by the permittors for proper study or exhibit. 
2.  Sale of artifacts.  Attempts to sell, offers of sale and sale of artifacts, objects or 
specimens, excavated after the effective date of this Act, whether excavated lawfully or 
unlawfully from a protected site, without the written permission of the permit grantors or 
the Director of the Maine Historic Preservation Commission and the Director of the State 
Museum, are punishable by a civil penalty not greater than twice the price for which 
artifacts, objects of or specimens are sold or offered for sale. 
3.  Prosecution.  The Attorney General, upon receiving notification and evidence of 
violation of this section from the Director of the Maine Historic Preservation 
Commission, is authorized to file a complaint against the person named in the District 
Court of the district in which the person resides, or in the district in which the violation 
occurred. 
4.  Artifact ownership.  Artifacts, objects, materials and specimens recovered from 
protected sites on state-controlled land are the property of the State Museum. Artifacts, 
objects, specimens or materials originating from a site on other than state-controlled land 
are the property of the landowner and shall must be deposited with a suitable repository 
as designated by the landowner in the preservation agreement, or the permit. 
Sec. 6.  27 MRSA §377, as amended by PL 1995, c. 502, Pt. E §30 and PL 2011, c. 
657, Pt. W, §7, is further amended to read: 
§377.  Protection of site location information 
In order to protect the site or protected site from unlawful excavation or harm, any 
information on in the possession of the Maine Historic Preservation Commission, the 
State Museum, the Division of Parks and Public Lands, other state agencies or the 
University of Maine System about the location or other attributes of any site in the 
possession of the Maine Historic Preservation Commission, the State Museum, the 
Division of Parks and Public Lands, other state agencies or the University of Maine 
System or protected site may be deemed by the Maine Historic Preservation Commission 
or State Museum to be confidential and exempt from Title 1, chapter 13. Such data shall 
must be made available for the purpose of archaeological research. The directors of the 
Maine Historic Preservation Commission and the State Museum shall jointly adopt rules 
establishing standards and procedures for obtaining the data, and may impose reasonable 
requirements on its use, including requirements of confidentiality. 
Sec. 7.  27 MRSA §378, as amended by PL 1999, c. 748, §3, is further amended to 
read: 
§378.  Emergency designation as protected site 
In the case of an area containing archaeological materials or artifacts that is directly 
threatened with unauthorized excavation, the Director of the Maine Historic Preservation 
Commission, with the written permission of the landowner, may designate the area as a 
protected site that is subject to this chapter for a period not to exceed 10 years.  The 
director and the landowner shall specify in writing the area that is subject to this chapter.  
All sites given emergency designation under this section must be posted against 
unauthorized excavation. 
SUMMARY 
This bill amends the laws governing the excavation of archaeological sites.  This bill 
amends the law to distinguish between sites and protected sites, and clarifies that any 
information concerning protected sites in the possession of certain state agencies may be 
deemed confidential.