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. (1) Accession--the formal acceptance of a collection and its recording into the holdings of a curatorial facility.
2. (2) Antiquities--the tangible aspects of the past, which relate to human life and culture. Some examples include objects, written histories, architectural significance, cultural traditions and patterns, art forms, and technologies.
3. (3) Antiquities Advisory Board--a ten-member board that assists the Texas Historical Commission in reviewing matters related to the Antiquities Code of Texas.
4. (4) Appropriate historical or archeological authorities--for purposes of implementing the Antiquities Code of Texas, the Texas Historical Commission, P.O. Box 12276, Capital Station, Austin, Texas 78711-2276, is the statutorily created body responsible for protecting and preserving State Archeological Landmarks, Texas Natural Resources Code of 1977, Title 9, Chapter 191. In cases where federal statutes apply, appropriate authorities include the Secretary of the Interior, the State Historic Preservation Officer, and their designated representatives.

5. (5) Archeological site--any place containing evidence of human activity, including but not limited to the following:

   1. (A) Habitation sites. Habitation sites are areas or structures where people live or have lived on a permanent or temporary basis. Standing structures may or may not be present. Habitation sites may also contain evidence of activities that are listed in the following as site types in the non-habitation category.

      1. (i) Campsites.

         1. (I) Native American open campsites were occupied on a temporary, seasonal, or intermittent basis. Evidence of structures may or may not be present. Native American campsites of both periods may have accumulations of shell or burned rock as well as hearths, hearth fields, bedrock mortars, burials, and/or scatters or accumulations of ceramics, stone debitage, flaked tools, and grinding stones. Campsites vary in size from a few square meters to several hectares. Additionally, Native American sites near missions, forts, and trading posts were present during the historic period. These sites, termed encampments, are of varying degrees or permanence with the site generally being continuously occupied but not necessarily by the same group, tribe, or culture.
         2. (II) Native American rock shelters, in general, are a special kind of campsite. These sites are located in caves or under rock overhangs and have been occupied either temporarily, seasonally, or intermittently. Many articles of perishable materials such as clothing, basketry, sandals, and matting may be preserved if the shelter is located in an arid environment. Shelter sites include not only the shelter area itself, but also the area of debris accumulation located in the immediate vicinity that is the result of activity by those occupying the rock shelter. Associated hearths, burials, bedrock mortars, dumps, etc., may be present. Rock shelters vary in size from an area large enough to accommodate only one person to areas of several hundred meters in the largest dimension.
         3. (III) Non-Native American campsites are the cultural remains of activities by people who are not Native American. Examples are sites that represent the activities of railroad workers, military units, settlers, slaves and other groups as yet unidentified. These sites include the area and remains of temporary encampments such as Chinese railroad camps, wagon train campsites, shepherd shelters, line camps, buffalo hunter camps, cavalry campgrounds, trail drive camps, camps at river fords, candelilla wax camps, and others.

      2. (ii) Residence sites.

         1. (I) Residence sites are those where routine daily activities were carried out and which were intended for year-round use. A greater degree of permanence is implied in a residence site than a campsite; therefore, structural evidence in the form of post molds, foundations, and so forth is more likely to be present. Examples include remains of cabins, dugouts, farmhouses, ranch headquarters, plantation residences, slave quarters, and urban homes, as well as teepee rings, pueblos, and Caddoan houses constructed by Native Americans.
         2. (II) Residence sites resulting from Native American activities may include additional features and structures including hearths, retaining walls, enclosures, compounds, patios, burials, cemeteries, mounds, platforms, and borrow areas, as well as scatters and accumulations of stone debitage, ceramic debitage, burned rock, flaked tools, grinding tools, grinding stones, and bedrock mortars.
         3. (III) Non-Native American sites may include, in addition to the main structure, outbuildings, water systems, trash dumps, garden areas, driveways, and other remains that were an integral part of the site when it was inhabited. Examples of structures or structural remains which might be present in addition to the residence include, but are not limited to, barns, silos, cisterns, corrals, wells, smokehouses, stables, gazebos, carriage houses, fences, walls, corn cribs, gins or mills, cellars, kitchens, and bunkhouses. Family cemeteries are often associated with early historic sites.

   2. (B) Non-habitation sites. Non-habitation sites result from use during specialized activities and may include standing structures. Descriptions of each kind of site are given.

      1. (i) Rock art and graffiti sites consist of symbols or representations that have been painted, ground, carved, sculpted, scratched, or pecked on or into the surface of rocks, wood, or metal. Names, dates, symbols, and representations or likenesses of people, animals, plants, or objects are common elements in such sites.
      2. (ii) Mines, quarry areas, and lithic procurement sites are those from which raw materials such as flint, clay, coal, minerals, or other materials were collected or mined for future use. Sites where flint was obtained can be identified by the abundance of flint flakes, broken tools, and flint cobbles. Mines often have associated structures such as head frames, support timbers, and transportation facilities.
      3. (iii) Game procurement and processing sites are areas where game was killed or butchered for food or hides. Remnants of structures such as game runs, hunting blinds, and fish weirs as well as stone, bone, and metal tools may be present in association with animal remains. Often the animal remains form a bone bed with cultural material dispersed sparsely among the bones.
      4. (iv) Engineering structures such as aqueducts, irrigation canals and ditches, earthen mounds, ramps, platforms, terraces, dams, bordered and leveled fields, constructed trails, medicine wheels, bridges, tunnels, shafts, roads, rock fences, dams, lighthouses, and railroad, streetcar, and thoroughfare systems are the most common, but not the only kinds of engineering structures.
      5. (v) Cemeteries and burials, marked and unmarked, are special locales set aside for burial purposes. Cemeteries contain the remains of more than one person placed in a regular or patterned order. Burials, in contrast, may contain the remains of one or more individuals located in a common grave in a locale not formerly or subsequently used as a cemetery. The site area encompasses the human remains present and also gravestones, markers, containers, coverings, garments, vessels, tools, and other goods, which may be present. Cemeteries and burials that are publicly owned and are of prehistoric origin (i.e., dating prior to A.D. 1500), or classified as historic, are protected under the Antiquities Code. Cemeteries are considered historic if interments within the cemetery occurred at least fifty (50) years ago. Individual burials within a cemetery are not considered historic unless the interments occurred at least fifty (50) years ago.
      6. (vi) Fortifications, battlefields, and skirmish sites include fortifications of the historic period and the central areas of encounters between opposing forces, whether major battleground or areas of small skirmishes. Trenches, mounds, walls, bastions, and other fortifications may be present. Trash dumps will also be considered a part of the site. Included here are battlefields of the Civil War, the Texas War for Independence, the Mexican War, and skirmish sites between non-native American and Native American forces. Standing structures may or may not be present.
      7. (vii) Public service and ceremonial sites include, but are not limited to, kivas, temple mounds, shrines, missions, churches, libraries, museums, educational institutions, courthouses, fire stations, and hospitals. Standing structures may or may not be present.
      8. (viii) Commercial business structures and industrial structures and sites where products or services are produced, stored, distributed, or sold include, but are not limited to, markets, stores, shops, banks, hostels, stables, inns, stage stops, breweries, bakeries, factories, kilns, mills, storage facilities, and railroad, bus and tramway depots. Trash or dump deposits, outbuildings, wells, cisterns, and other features associated with the principal structures are considered to be a part of these sites.
      9. (ix) Monuments and markers include structures erected to commemorate or designate the importance of an event, person, or place, and may or may not be located at the sites they commemorate. Included in this category are certain markers erected by the Texas Historical Commission and county historical commissions, and markers and statuary located on public grounds such as courthouse squares and the Capitol grounds. Examples of such sites constructed by Native Americans will be included in this category upon identification.
      10. (x) Shipwrecks by definition, Texas Natural Resource Code, §191.091, also include the wrecks of naval vessels, Spanish treasure ships, coastal trading schooners, sailing ships, steamships, and river steamships, among others.
6. (6) Board--the board of the Texas Historical Commission.
7. (7) Commission--the Texas Historical Commission and its staff.
8. (8) Committee, or Antiquities Committee, or Texas Antiquities Committee--as redefined by the 74th Texas Legislature within §191.003 of the Antiquities Code, the committee means the Texas Historical Commission and/or staff members of the Texas Historical Commission.
9. (9) Contract Archeologist--a professional archeologist who performs or directs archeological investigations under contract.
10. (10) Council of Texas Archeologists--a non-profit voluntary organization that promotes the goals of professional archeology in the State of Texas.
11. (11) Council of Texas Archeologists Guidelines--professional and ethical standards which provide a code of self regulation for archeological professionals in Texas with regard to field methods, reporting, and curation.
12. (12) Conservation--scientific laboratory process for cleaning, stabilizing, restoring, and preserving artifacts.
13. (13) Cultural resource--any building, site, district, structure, object, pre-twentieth century 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. (14) Curatorial Facility--is a museum, school of higher education, cultural resource management firm, or governmental agency that engages in the conservation, storage, and/or displays archeological or other cultural artifacts.

15. (15) Data Recovery--an excavation mode of archeology and a form of mitigation. The evidence from a skillfully accomplished archeological excavation provides a detailed picture of the human activities at the site; emphasis is placed on evidence rather than artifacts. In data recovery, the archeological deposits are removed by digging and so destroyed. The destruction can be justified only if:

    1. (A) it is done with such care that all antiquities and all cultural and environmental data in the area excavated are discovered, and if possible, preserved, however faint the surviving trace may be;
    2. (B) appropriate information has been accurately recorded, whether its importance is immediately recognized or not, to remain available after the site has disappeared; and
    3. (C) the record and results of the investigation are rapidly made available through publication.
16. (16) Deaccession--the permanent removal of an object or collection from the holdings of a curatorial facility.
17. (17) Default--failure to fulfill all conditions of a permit or contract, issued or granted to permittee(s), sponsors, principal investigators, and co-principal investigators.
18. (18) Defaulted permit--a permit that has expired without all permit terms and conditions having been met.
19. (19) Designated historic district--areas of archeological or historical significance indicated by listing on, or determined eligible for inclusion in, the National Register of Historic Places, designated as State Archeological Landmarks, or considered eligible for designation as State Archeological Landmarks, or have been identified by State agencies, or political subdivisions of the State as historically sensitive sites, districts, or areas. This includes designations by local landmarks commissions, boards, or other public authority, and/or through local preservation ordinances.
20. (20) Destructive analysis--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.
21. (21) Discovery--the act of locating, recording, and reporting a cultural resource.
22. (22) Disposal--the discard of an object or sample after being recovered and prior to accession.
23. (23) Environmental Data--presently available information as well as data derived as an adjunct to an archeological investigation, which includes, but is not limited to, area drainage, physiography, surface and subsurface geology, soils, flora, fauna, climate, the alteration of prehistoric and historic landforms, and so forth. The implications of present and/or hypothetical micro-environments should be presented when sufficient data allow for such inferences. The above elements of the environment through time must be considered during attempts to reconstruct past technological subsistence and settlement patterns.
24. (24) Emergency Permit--a permit that authorizes investigations to be performed prior to the formal application for those investigations. This permit will only be issued under emergency conditions when archeological deposits are discovered during development or other construction projects, or under conditions of natural or man-made disasters that necessitate immediate action to deal with the findings.
25. (25) Held-in-trust collection--the associated set of objects, samples, records, or documents generated during investigations conducted on public lands or under public waters in the state of Texas under antiquities permits issued by the commission. A collection may consist only of records or documents.
26. (26) Historic time period--for the purposes of State Archeological Landmark designation, this time period is defined as extending from A. D. 1500 to 50 years before the present.
27. (27) Investigation--archeological or architectural activity including, but not limited to, reconnaissance or intensive survey, testing, or data recovery; preservation of rock art; underwater archeological survey, test excavation, or data recovery excavations; monitoring; measured drawings, or photographic documentation.
28. (28) Investigative Firm--a company or scientific institution that have full-time experienced research personnel capable of handling archeological investigations and employs a principal investigator. The company or institution must provide adequate field equipment and laboratory facilities for analysis, interpretation, and storage, and must have the technical capability to produce a finished report on any investigation. The company or institution holds equal responsibilities with the principal investigator to complete all requirements under an Antiquities Permit.
29. (29) Land owning or controlling agency--any state agency or political subdivision of the state that owns or controls the land(s) in question.
30. (30) Local Society--any historical preservation group, archeological society, or other community group whose aim is related to or involved in architectural or archeological site preservation.
31. (31) Mitigation--the amelioration of potential total or partial loss of significant cultural resources, accomplished through pre-planned data recovery actions to preserve or recover an appropriate amount of data by application of current professional techniques and procedures, as defined in the permit's scope of work. Following any mitigation or data recovery investigation, a clearance letter may be issued by the commission, which authorizes destruction of all or part of a cultural resource without an Antiquities Permit.
32. (32) Monitoring--the on-site presence of a professional archeologist or architect to observe construction activities that could or will alter cultural resources and to report findings and effects.
33. (33) National Register--the National Register of Historic Places is a register of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects significant in American history, architecture, archeology, and culture maintained by the Secretary of the Interior. Information concerning the National Register is available through the State Historic Preservation Officer, Texas Historical Commission, P. O. Box 12276, Capitol Station, Austin, Texas 78711-2276.
34. (34) Permit Application Offense--failure to properly apply for a permit, and/or receive authorization for an emergency permit by the commission, prior to the actual performance of an archeological or architectural investigation.
35. (35) Permit Censuring--a restriction in the ability of a principal investigator and investigative firm to be issued a permit under the auspices of the Antiquities Code of Texas.
36. (36) Permittee--an individual, institution, investigative firm, or company issued an Antiquities Permit for any archeological investigation or historic preservation activity.
37. (37) Political subdivision--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, §52(b)(1) or (2), or Article XVI, §59.
38. (38) Prehistoric time period--for the purpose of State Archeological Landmark designation, a time period that encompasses a great length of time beginning when man first entered the New World and ending with the arrival of the Spanish Europeans, which has been approximated for purposes of these guidelines at A. D. 1500.

39. (39) Professional personnel--appropriately trained specialists required to perform adequate archeological and architectural investigations. These personnel include the following:

    1. (A) Principal investigator. A professional archeologist with demonstrated competence in field archeology and laboratory analysis, as well as experience in administration, logistics, personnel deployment, report publication, and fiscal management. In addition to these criteria the principal investigator shall:

       1. (i) hold a graduate degree in anthropology/archeology, or closely related field such as, geography, geology, or history, if their degree program also included formal training in archeological field methods, research, and site interpretation from an accredited institution of higher education; and/or be accredited by the Register of Professional Archeologists (RPA) with emphasis in field research, historical archeology, or underwater archeology as appropriate; and/or have successfully completed investigations under an Antiquities Permit; and/or hold an active permit not in default, prior to the date that these rules become effective;
       2. (ii) not hold one or more defaulted permits;
       3. (iii) have at least twelve months of full-time experience in a supervisory role involving complete responsibility for a major portion of a project of comparable complexity to that which is to be undertaken under permit;
       4. (iv) have demonstrated the ability to disseminate the results of an archeological investigation in published form conforming to current professional standards;
       5. (v) remain on-site a minimum of 25% of the time required for the field investigation, and whose names must appear on the project report;
       6. (vi) provide a field archeologist to supervise the field investigation in his or her absence; and
       7. (vii) testify concerning report findings in the interest of controversy or challenge.

    2. (B) Professional archeologist. One who has a degree in anthropology/ archeology or closely related field if that degree also included formal training in archeological field methods, research, and site interpretation, conducts archeological investigations as a vocation, and whose primary source of income is from archeological work. Qualifications for specialized types of professional archeologists are listed below.

       1. (i) Prehistoric Archeologist. One who is a professional archeologist and, in addition, meets the following conditions:

          1. (I) has been trained in the field of prehistoric archeology;
          2. (II) has a minimum experience of two comprehensive archeological field seasons of three to six months in length on archeological site(s) that contain prehistoric (pre-16th century) archeological deposits; and
          3. (III) has published the results of those prehistoric archeological investigations in scholarly journals or publications.

       2. (ii) Historic archeologist. One who is a professional archeologist and, in addition, meets the following conditions:

          1. (I) has been trained in the field of historical archeology;
          2. (II) has a minimum experience of two comprehensive archeological field seasons of three to six months in length on archeological site(s) that contain historic (post-16th century) archeological deposits; and
          3. (III) has published the results of those historical archeological investigations in scholarly journals or publications.
       3. (iii) Underwater archeologist. One who is a professional archeologist and, in addition, is a competent diver with a minimum of two full seasons in underwater archeological testing or excavation projects. Training and experience sufficient for safe and proficient use of the specialized underwater remote sensing survey, excavation and mapping techniques, and equipment are required.
       4. (iv) Underwater archeological surveyor. One who has training and experience sufficient for safe and proficient supervision of appropriate remote sensing survey equipment operation, as well as for interpretation of survey data for anomalies and geomorphic features that may have some probability of association with submerged aboriginal sites and sunken vessels. This individual may represent the archeological interests on board the survey vessel in the absence of an underwater archeologist, as defined in subparagraph (B)(iii) of this definition.
    3. (C) Project architect. A professional architect who is a qualified architect and has had full-time experience in a supervisory role on at least one historic preservation project. The project architect must be involved, at a minimum, in 25% of the time required for an historic structures permit project and, when not involved with the project, must assign a qualified historic architect to supervise the preservation project.

    4. (D) Historic architect. One who has a professional degree in architecture or a state license to practice architecture, plus one of the following:

       1. (i) at least one year of graduate study in architectural preservation, American architectural history, preservation planning, or closely related field: or
       2. (ii) at least one year of full-time professional experience on historic preservation projects to include experience on projects similar to the project to be permitted; detailed investigations of historic structures; preparation of historic structures research reports; and preparation of plans and specifications for preservation projects.

    5. (E) Historian. The minimum professional qualifications are a graduate degree in history or closely related field; or a bachelor's degree in history or a closely related field plus one of the following:

       1. (i) at least 2 years of full-time experience in research, writing, teaching, interpretation, or other demonstrable professional activity with an academic institution, historical organization or agency, museum, or other professional institution; or
       2. (ii) substantial contribution through research and publication to the body of scholarly knowledge in the field of history.
    6. (F) Geomorphologist or Geoarcheologist. A person that holds a graduate degree in geology, geomorphology, archeology, or other closely related field, and has had sufficient training to adequately evaluate the sedimentology, stratigraphy, and pedology of deposits in the field and be competent to describe and analyze the deposits using standard terminology and methods. This person should also have general archeological experience in area in which the investigations are to occur.
40. (40) Project sponsor--an individual, institution, investigative firm, or company paying costs of archeological investigation or historic preservation activity.
41. (41) Public agency or agencies--any state agency or political subdivision of the State.
42. (42) Public lands--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.
43. (43) Reconnaissance--a literature search and record review plus an on-the-ground surface examination of selected portions of an area adequate to assess the general nature of the resource probably present. Shovel test excavations may be required to help identify some sites. This level of investigation is appropriate to preliminary planning decisions and will be of assistance in determining viable project alternatives. A reconnaissance does not preclude a survey and cannot be used for the purposes of achieving construction clearance.
44. (44) Recorded archeological site--sites that are recorded, listed, or registered with an institution, agency, or university, such as the Texas Archeological Research Laboratory of the University of Texas at Austin.
45. (45) Recovered Artifacts--an object or sample has been removed from the site where it was found.
46. (46) Register of Professional Archeologists--a voluntary national professional organization of archeologists which registers qualified archeologists.
47. (47) Research design--a theoretical approach taken prior to implementation of a field study and submitted with an archeological permit application from and which is essential to the success of scientific objectives, resource management decision-making, and project management.
48. (48) Rock art--all manner of carvings, scratchings, and paintings on rock which relate to human life and culture, including, but not limited to, Native American pictographs and petroglyphs, historical graffiti and inscriptions, and religious and genealogical records.
49. (49) Ruins--an historic or prehistoric site, composed of both archeological and structural remains, in which the structure is in a state of collapse or deterioration to the point that the original roof and/or flooring and/or walls are either missing, partially missing, collapsed, partially collapsed, or seriously damaged through natural forces or structural collapse. Ruins are considered archeological sites and the original structure of a ruin must be at least 100 years old. Historic structures recently damaged or destroyed are not classified as ruins.
50. (50) Scope of work--the methodological techniques used to perform the archeological or architectural investigations under permit.
51. (51) Significance--a trait attributable to sites, buildings, structures and objects of historical, architectural, and archeological (cultural) value which are eligible for designation to State Archeological 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.
52. (52) Site--a shortened term meaning any place containing evidence of human activity, a cultural resource, or an archeological site.
53. (53) Sponsor--an agency, individual, institution, investigative firm, organization, corporation, subcontractor, and/or company paying costs of archeological investigation or historic preservation activity or that sponsors, funds, or otherwise functions as a party under a permit.
54. (54) State agency--a department, commission, board, office, or other agency that is a part of state government and that is created by the constitution or a statute of this state. The term includes an institution of higher education as defined by the Texas Education Code, §61.003.
55. (55) State Archeological Landmark--any cultural resource or site located in, on, or under the surface of any lands belonging to the State of Texas or any county, city, or other political subdivision of the state, or a site officially designated as a landmark at an open public hearing before the commission.
56. (56) State Historic Preservation Officer--the official within each state authorized by the state, at the request of the Secretary of the Interior, to act as liaison for purposes of implementing the National Historic Preservation Act. In Texas, the Executive Director of the commission is designated as the State Historic Preservation Officer.
57. (57) Survey--an intensive on-the-ground pedestrian survey to provide for the determination of the number and extent of the resources present and their scientific importance. Shovel testing may be required to locate sites when the ground surface is obscured or to determine the horizontal limit of buried archeological deposits. Following any survey investigation, a clearance letter may be issued by the committee, which authorizes destruction of all or part of a cultural resource without an Antiquities Permit.
58. (58) Testing--application of current archeological techniques to the investigation and evaluation of one or more sites. Testing must be accomplished in such a way as to recover the adequate amount of archeological, historical, and scientific data through detailed examination of a representative sample of the site or sites. Testing must result in the recovery of data, specimens, and samples relating to the total cultural content of the site or sites. Results of testing will be utilized in preservation of the remaining portions of the resource. Following any testing investigation, a clearance letter which authorizes destruction of all or part of a cultural resource without an Antiquities Permit may be issued by the commission.

Source Note:The provisions of this §26.5 adopted to be effective June 24, 1988, 13 TexReg 2913; amended to be effective February 13, 1990, 15 TexReg 485; amended to be effective February 12, 1993, 18 TexReg 643; amended to be effective April 11, 1994, 19 TexReg 2193; transferred effective August 30, 1995, as published in the Texas Register October 17, 1995, 20 TexReg 8442; amended to be effective December 5, 1995, 20 TexReg 9687; amended to be effective June 26, 1996, 21 TexReg 5437; amended to be effective April 22, 1997, 22 TexReg 3577; amended to be effective June 14, 2001, 26 TexReg 4081.