Curation

NEPA- (1969) - national environmental policy act

Authority for managing the impacts of all federal actions on the human environment Considers the relationships between past cultures and their living descendants

Museum properties management act

Authorized the secretary of interior, through the NPS, to preserve the objects found in individual national parks and provide public access NPA legal authority to acquire collections through donations

NHPA- (1966) - national historic preservation act

Expanded the national register of historic places Established the state historic preservation offices Requires that records and other data produced by historical research and archaeological surveys/excavations are permanently maintained in appropriate databases and made available to users

AHPA- (1974) - archaeological and historic preservation act

Fight to preserve archaeological resources during development Preservation of historical/archeological data that might be lost due to federal construction Regulations for curation Secretary of interior must consult groups/individuals to determine ownership

NAGRPA

Impacts archaeological fieldwork and curation Native American human remains Associated or unassociated funerary objects/sacred objects Covers objects in federal or federally funded repositories Affects any public museum or repository that received federal funding before or since 1990

ARPA - (1979) - archaeological resources protection act

Strengthened the permitting procedures Establishes harsher fines and penalties Acknowledges federal ownerships of objects excavated from federal lands Calls for preservation of objects and records in suitable institution Prohibits public disclosure of info concerning nature and location of archeological resources Permit application must be authorized between federal agency and appropriate repository

antiquities act 1906

artifacts for permanent preservation in public museums first major cultural resource law in the US but lacked standards or guidelines on how to perform these and who was actually responsible protect archaeological sites from looting, established fines and punishment for looting allows president to declare historic or prehistoric sites or structures as national monuments

Historic sites act

federal policy to preserve historic and prehistoric areas of national significance national historic landmarks program secretary of interior has power to secure data formalizes NPA programs involved in salvage archaeology

ARPA (archaeological resources protection act)

helped define and prioritize curation as an essential aspect of planning and implementing archeological projects

NHPA (National historic preservation act)

led to contract or cultural resources management archaeology Majority of fieldwork, save certain sites from destruction Still unable to maintain care

Archeological collection

made to collect and preserve info that is useful for research and interpretive purpose

curation

process of managing and preserving a collection according to professional museum and archival practices

36CFR79

regulations for curation of federally owned collections 1990 (curation of federally owned and administered archaeological collections 1990) government wide regulations for curation and care of federal archealogoical collections ESTABLISHED PROCEDURES AND GUIDELINES TO MANAGE AND PRESERVE COLLECTIONS