Agenda - 11-20-2006-c6 - Laserfiche WebLink

Browse Search

North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources Office of State Archaeology Stephen R Ctaggett, State Archaeologist Michael F. Easley, Governor Division of Historical Resources Lisbeth C. Evans, Secretary David Brook, Director TO: David Stancil, Director County of Orange Environment and Resource Conservation Department FROM: Stephen R. Claggett State Archaeologist DATE: October 3, 2006 SUBJECT: Archaeological Site Information To follow up on inquiries concerning our policy on the disclosure of archaeological site locations, I would like to offer the following comments. One of the mandates of the Office of State Archaeology is to provide for the preservation and protection of the archaeological resources of North Carolina. There are several ways to implement this mandate that involve both the restriction of site location information and the distribution of that information. Under the provisions of North Carolina General Statutes Chapter 70 -18, information regarding the location of archaeological resources may be made available only if such disclosure would not create a risk of harm to the archaeological resource or to the site at which it is located. Artifact collecting, vandalism and looting are perennial problems at a number of archaeological sites in the state and it has been our policy to restrict archaeological site location information from the general public. While the majority of citizens would not knowingly cause damage or destruction to archaeological resources, we do not have the staff or other resources to discern individual motivations or to monitor even a significant percentage of the over 35,000 recorded archaeological sites in North Carolina. As a consequence, we feel it is prudent to err on the side of overprotection of these finite resources. On the other hand, many of the state's citizens are interested in the protection and preservation of the cultural heritage of our communities, including the archaeological resources. Such interest in I Central Office OSA Research Center Underwater Archaeology Branch Queen Anne's Revenge Proiect Western Office 4619 Mail Service Center 4612 Mail Service Center Post Office Box 58 3431 Arendell Street Archives and History Raleigh NC 27699 -4619 Raleigh NC 27699-4612 Kure Beach NC 28449 Morehead City NC 28557 1 Village Lane Suite 3 919/733 -7342; fax 9i9/715 -2671 919/715 -5599; fax 919/715 -1386 910/458 -9042; fax 910/45 84093 252/726- 6841x155; fax 252/726 -2426 Asheville NC 28803 -2677 Location: 421 N. Blount Street Location: 215 W. Lane Street Location: 1608 Fort Fisher Blvd. 8281274 -6789; fax 828/274 - Raleigh NC Raleigh NC Kure Beach NC 6995