Texas Administrative Code › Title 13 - CULTURAL RESOURCES › Part 2 - TEXAS HISTORICAL COMMISSION › Chapter 29 - MANAGEMENT AND CARE OF ARTIFACTS AND COLLECTIONS › Section 29.4 - Definitions

Current through Reg. 49, No. 28; July 12, 2024
The following words and terms, when used in this chapter and
				  the Antiquities Code of Texas, shall have the following meanings unless the
				  context clearly indicates otherwise.
(1) Accession--means the formal acceptance of
				a collection and it's recording into the holdings of a curatorial facility and
				generally includes a transfer of title. For held-in-trust collections,
				stewardship but not title is transferred to the curatorial facility.
(2) Accessions inventory--means an inventory
				conducted at the time of accessioning when a collection or historical item is
				placed at the designated curatorial facility. It is similar to a baseline
				inventory in that it is comprised of the categories represented in the
				collection, quantities, and linear feet of documentation as
				appropriate.
(3) Antiquities--means
				the tangible aspects of the past, which relate to human life and culture. Some
				examples include objects, written histories, architecture , cultural traditions
				and patterns, art forms, and technologies.
(4) Artifact--means an object that has been
				removed from an archeological site.
(5) Baseline inventory--means the most basic
				inventory done by summary count within general categories (similar to an entry
				or accessions inventory).
(6)
				Cataloging--means assigning an object to an established classification system
				and having a record containing identification, provenience, accession and
				catalog numbers, and location of that object in the collection storage
				area.
(7) Certification--means a
				process through which a curatorial facility establishes that it has achieved
				certain standards and follows acceptable practices with respect to its
				collections.
(8) Certified
				curatorial facility--means a museum or repository that has been certified by
				the Commission for the purposes of curating state-associated
				collections.
(9) Collection--means
				an associated set of objects, samples, records, or documents or an associated
				set of documents only.
(10)
				Commission--means the Texas Historical Commission and its staff.
(11) Conservation--means scientific
				laboratory process for cleaning, stabilizing, restoring, and preserving
				artifacts.
(12) Conservation
				Survey--means inspection and documentation by facility staff, of condition of
				collection objects on an ongoing basis as part of routine collections
				management work.
(13) Cultural
				resource--means any building, site, district, structure, object, historic
				shipwreck, data, and locations of historical, archeological, educational, or
				scientific interest, including, but not limited to, prehistoric and historic
				Native American or aboriginal campsites, dwellings, and habitation sites,
				archeological sites of every character, treasure embedded in the earth, sunken
				or abandoned ships and wrecks of the sea or any part of the contents thereof,
				maps, records, documents, books, artifacts, and implements of culture in any
				way related to the inhabitants' prehistory, history, natural history,
				government, or culture. Examples of cultural resources include Native American
				mounds and campgrounds, aboriginal lithic resource areas, early industrial and
				engineering sites, rock art, early cottage, and craft industry sites, bison
				kill sites, cemeteries, battlegrounds, all manner of historical structures,
				local historical records, etc.
(14)
				Curatorial facility--means a museum or repository that professionally manages
				collections on a long term basis.
(15) Deaccession--means the permanent removal
				of an object or collection from the holdings of a curatorial
				facility.
(16) Designated
				curatorial facility--means any curatorial facility that is holding or seeking
				to hold any state associated collection on behalf of the Commission.
(17) Destructive analysis--means destroying
				all or a portion of an object or sample to gain specialized information. For
				purposes of these rules, it does not include analysis of objects or samples
				prior to their being accessioned by a curatorial facility.
(18) Disposal--means the discard of an object
				or sample after being recovered and prior to accession, or after
				deaccession.
(19) Held-in-trust
				agreement--means the document signed by the Commission and the designated
				curatorial facility that provides for the transfer of stewardship to the
				curatorial facility for the state-associated collection, provides the
				state-associated collection's accession number and accessions inventory, and
				notes any conditions or restrictions.
(20) Held-in-trust collection--means those
				state-associated collections under the authority of the Texas Historical
				Commission that are placed in a curatorial facility for care and management;
				stewardship is transferred to that curatorial facility but not
				ownership.
(21) Inventory--means a
				physically-checked, itemized list of the objects in a curatorial facility's
				holdings. Itemized refers to having some sort of categorization, whether it be
				object-by-object or some type of grouping. Inventory is usually performed by
				numerical count, but weight may be considered in addition to or instead of a
				count, where it may be appropriate.
(22) Museum--means a legally organized
				not-for-profit institution, essentially educational in nature; having a
				formally stated mission; with a professionally trained staff that uses and
				interprets objects for the public through regularly scheduled programs and
				exhibits; with a program of documentation, care, and use of collection or
				tangible objects; and having a program of maintenance and presentation of
				exhibits.
(23) Political
				subdivision--means a local government entity created and operating under the
				laws of this state, including a city, county, school district, or special
				district created under the Texas Constitution, Article III, Section 52(b)(1) or
				(2), or Article XVI, Section 59.
(24) Preventive conservation--means to
				maintain the collections in stable condition through preventive maintenance,
				condition surveys, environmental controls, and pest management.
(25) Public lands--means non-federal public
				lands that are owned or controlled by the State of Texas or any of its
				political subdivisions, including the tidelands, submerged land, and the bed of
				the sea within the jurisdiction of the State of Texas.
(26) Relocation inventory--means a
				physically-checked, itemized list of a specific subset of objects that have
				been moved from their permanent location within the holdings of the curatorial
				facility.
(27) Repository--means a
				permanent, not-for-profit educational or research-oriented agency or
				institution, having a professionally trained staff, that provides in-perpetuity
				legal housing and curation of collections.
(28) Significance--means a trait attributable
				to sites, buildings, structures and objects of historical, architectural, and
				archeological (cultural) value which are eligible for designation to State
				Antiquities Landmark status and protection under the Antiquities Code of Texas.
				Similarly, a trait attributable to properties included in or determined
				eligible for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places.
(29) Site--means any place or location
				containing physical evidence of human activity. Examples of sites include: the
				location of prehistoric or historic occupations or activities, a group or
				district of buildings or structures that share a common historical context or
				period of significance, and designed landscapes such as parks and
				gardens.
(30) Spot-check
				inventory--means an organized location search to produce a physically-checked,
				itemized list of a predetermined subset of objects for which the curatorial
				facility is responsible.
(31)
				State-associated collections--means the collections owned by the State and
				under the authority of the Texas Historical Commission. This includes the
				following:
(A) Permitted collections--means
				collections that are the result of work governed by the Texas Antiquities Code
				of Texas on land or under waters belonging to the State of Texas or any
				political subdivision of the State requiring the issuance of a permit by the
				Commission.
(B) Non-permitted
				collections--means collections that are the result of work governed by the
				Antiquities Code on land or under waters belonging to the State of Texas or any
				political subdivision of the State conducted by Commission personnel without
				the issuance of a permit.
(C)
				Purchased collections--means collections that are the result of the acquisition
				of significant historical items by the Commission through Texas Historical
				Artifacts Acquisition Program or use of other State funds.
(D) Donated collections--means collections
				that are the result of a gift, donation, or bequest to the
				Commission.
(E) Court-action
				collections--means collections that are awarded to the Commission by a court
				through confiscation of illegally-obtained archeological artifacts or any other
				material that may be awarded to the Commission by a court of law.