Excavation permit

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In Germany, every excavation at a ground monument requires an excavation permit from the responsible monument authority in accordance with the respective monument protection law of the federal state . In some countries, other types of research also require a permit under monument law.

background

A professional excavation increases the knowledge of a ground monument, but at the same time leads to the destruction of the findings and tears the findings out of context with the findings. In addition, the archaeological research methods are constantly being developed, so that an excavation in a few decades promises considerably more information than a current one.

The preservation of monuments is defined as a public interest in all German monument protection laws. It is therefore the task of the monument authorities to carefully consider whether the gain in knowledge or the reason for the excavation is proportionate to the preservation of the monument with every necessary (mostly through building project) or desired excavation (for research purposes).

In addition to regular excavations, small search shafts such as are often undertaken by probe users often lead to disruptions in the findings. Such excavations are therefore also subject to approval.

Responsible approval authorities are, depending on the state law, the lower monument protection authorities in districts or cities, the upper monument protection authorities in the district governments or (most often) the state offices for monument preservation .

requirements

A prerequisite for an excavation permit is always appropriate specialist knowledge, so that regular excavations in Germany are usually carried out by universities, state offices for the preservation of monuments or specialist companies. Smaller measures are occasionally undertaken by archaeological associations or working groups, if their expertise and supervision by the monument authorities are ensured.

In order to preserve the information obtained for the general public, the monument authorities generally make the approval for probe users dependent on good cooperation and careful documentation of findings and findings. Appropriate permits are often limited to certain areas (e.g. a municipal area) and known archaeological monuments are excluded.

If the soil is tampered with without a corresponding permit, it is considered a robbery , regardless of the size of the excavation and its success . These are considered administrative offenses . If findings are disrupted, which is usually the case, a conviction for damage to property that is harmful to the community (§ 304 StGB) is also possible .

In practice, methods that do not intervene in the soil, such as inspections or aerial photographs , do not require a permit under monument law.

literature

  • Heinz Günter Horn (Ed.): Archeology and Law - What is a ground monument? Philipp von Zabern, Mainz 1993, ISBN 3-8053-1319-5 .
  • Dieter J. Martin, Jan Nikolaus Viebrock, Carsten Bielfeldt: Monument protection, monument preservation, ground monument preservation. Manual: legal basis - monument-related principles - organization - procedure - costs and financing . Kronach, Munich / Bonn 1997–2002, chap. 9, ISBN 3-556-32400-8 .