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Comment by turc1656 | Hacker News Reader

This article got me wondering...how is the law structured around this sort of thing? Generally speaking, it's highly illegal to dig up and open a grave since we generally have respect for a person's final resting place and this has been codified into law. So what are the rules surrounding this?

I assume special legal approval must be granted similar to what is required, for example, when a body needs to be exhumed as part of an ongoing investigation?

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It's an archaeological dig as such it is done under special circumstances. Basically the permit is granted before the dig is started and it will list the conditions that apply to that dig if they are not already regulated as standard by a law.

If you dig on your own private property and find such artifacts you are most likely required to stop. Most countries consider historical artifacts to be owned by the state (just like natural resources) and the special conditions mentioned above will apply.

In the US you do actually own the things in your ground (unless you gave away mineral rights, a thing that is kinda common in mining areas). (NPR did a thing on this a while ago about a farmer who ended up owning a huge T-Rex fossil.)

You own them as long as they don't fall under NAGPRA and there are no human remains. Even then, most states have laws restricting what you're able to do with a site.

In many European countries finding a pot of gold buried in your back yard means you have to hand it over to the authorities and maybe get a "finder's fee". You're not allowed to keep or sell such historical artifacts regardless of their monetary value.

I don't know what happens when human remains are involved. Common sense tells me that they would never become the "property" of the land owner.

And of course there is a chance that some artifacts are treated differently than others. A T-Rex fossil is 100% naturally occurring while minted coins or a sarcophagus are not. They may have even been at some point property of the state and as such could be treated as national patrimony.

I have been told that this is also true in my home state- Minnesota. Land owners do not automatically retain mineral rights when they purchase property.

> you are most likely required to stop

Seems unenforceable.

Edit: The creative potential of a public service announcement makes me smile though.

Not per se because there's no active monitoring. But the value of most artifacts is in displaying them or selling them (even for the raw materials, like melted as gold/silver bars). So something with purely historical value is harder to hide. Which means sooner or later there's a good chance it can be traced back to you.

But yeah, if you plan on keeping them for your personal collection I guess nobody ever has to know. Except a few of your best friends or family who definitely won't tell a soul, ever :D.

The old Turks would be great at tunneling. So they would bury their gold underground in tunnels eons ago. In Jordan, This was so common that you were likely to find gold during construction projects or while digging in your backyard. So if a worker found gold, he would be required to hand it over. So he wouldn't dig it out during the day. Only at night. Helicopters would roam around at night specifically to find diggers at night with their lanterns and lamps looking for gold.

Yes, in general there is a legal approval needed for exhumation, but in this case the identity of the bodies is unknown, so in order to put a name next to their remains and uncovering some parts of history, archaeologists are allowed to open the tombs and hence to exhume the bodies found inside.

In Europe, a burial site only is a burial site for 200 years. There are separate laws for archaeological digs.

As there is no political entity called "Europe", by definition there can't be such rule / law.

This is a case where a snarky reply is unneeded, and you could simply do some basic research.

It looks like there is official permission in London to exhume some graves for re-use after 75 years, and it's generally accepted that a grave is only owned for a 100 years (that seems to come from the Burial Act of 1857 in the UK).

In general it seems that yes, given sufficient time, the tricky legal problems of exhuming become quite a bit more simple.

The "no one cares anymore" solution to put it simply

I disagree.

It doesn't make sense to say "in Europe" when talking about laws. Eventually "European Union", but the fact that the parent used "Europe" is a signal that it could be simply fake information or a misinformed claims.

Saying "in Europe" is the result of lazyness OR misinformation. In both cases it results on an over-generalization, which can be dangerous. The "snarky reply" is being down voted while it is ACTUALLY TRUE and adds something to the conversation.

For people without downvote right, the only way to disagree is to post a comment, which is then downvoted... See the problem there?

It really makes you wonder how many facts, stories or anecdotes are voluntary or involuntary made up on HN.

Quite a few documentaries show or talk about the process in Egypt. Filing detailed reports on where and what you plan to do, what you do if you find things and so forth.

Depending on what you want to do it can take a long time was the impression I got, particularly if the existing history or science doesn't support your theories.

At least in the documentaries I've seen it seemed like Egyptian authorities in that area were highly knowledgeable and thoughtful. I hope those were accurate. They were willing to send things out of the country to be examined further provided they were returned and such. It seems like a good process there. I don't think that is the case in all countries who understandably have other problems to deal with :(

For a Native American perspective on this happening in North America, check out the book God is Red, by Vine Deloria.

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