The Foundation for American Public Archaeology: Section 3 of the Antiquities Act of 1906

The Antiquities Act of 1906 is not widely known, yet it is among the most important of American laws for archaeological and historical preservation, as well as for natural resource conservation. To the extent that the law is known, it is most commonly understood to be the authority by which the president can establish national monuments on public lands. This chapter describes another important aspect of the law: its position as the foundation for public archaeological and historic preservation policies in the United States. Specifically, the three spects of this policy foundation are: (1) archaeological resources are public resources and their uses should be regulated publicly and for a public benefit rather than for private commercial or personal gain; (2) the primary values of archaeological resources arc educational and commemorative; and (3) archaeological resources should be investigated and interpreted by qualifIed professionals U5lng the best historical and scientific methods and techniques. Section 3 of the Antiquities Act established these policies regarding archaeological sites. Later in the twentieth century, the Historic Sites Act (1935) and the National Historic Preservation Act (1966) extended these same fundamental policies to a wlder range of historic and cultural resources, including those located on other-than-public lands.1906年《古迹法》（Antiquities Act）虽鲜为大众所知，却是美国在考古保护、历史保护及自然资源保护领域最为重要的法律之一。即便该法律为外界所知晓，其最广为人知的内涵通常也仅为总统可借此获得授权，在公共土地上设立国家纪念地。本章将阐述该法律的另一重要面向：它作为美国公共考古与历史保护政策基石的地位。具体而言，这一政策基石包含三个核心维度：其一，考古资源属于公共资源，其利用方式应受公共规制并服务于公共利益，而非用于私人商业牟利或个人私利；其二，考古资源的核心价值在于教育与纪念意义；其三，考古资源应由具备资质的专业人员采用最优历史与科学方法及技术开展调查与阐释。《古迹法》第3条确立了这些针对考古遗址的政策。20世纪后期，1935年《历史遗址法》（Historic Sites Act）与1966年《国家历史保护法》（National Historic Preservation Act）将这些相同的核心政策拓展至更广泛的历史与文化资源范畴，涵盖非公共土地上的相关资源。