State Statutes

The Arizona State Museum (ASM) preserves archaeological resources and is enabled by:

• A.R.S. § 15-1631 – State museum

The ASM administers four state statutes in the Arizona Antiquities Act (A.R.S. §41-841 et seq.) related to state lands and one state statute (A.R.S. §41-865) related to private lands: 

• A.R.S. § 41-841 – Archaeological and vertebrate paleontological discoveries
• A.R.S. § 41-842 – Permits to explore
• A.R.S. § 41-843 – Prohibiting unnecessary defacing of site or object
• A.R.S. § 41-844 – Duty to report discoveries; disposition of discoveries; definitions
• A.R.S. § 41-865 – Disturbing human remains or funerary objects; rules; violation; classification; definitions

The statutes above are implemented through rules published in the Arizona Board of Regents Policy Manual, Chapter 8:

• Rules implementing A.R.S. § 15-1631 and § 41-841 et seq., the Arizona Antiquities Act
• Rules implementing A.R.S. § 41-865 

Cultural resource violations in state statutes:

• A.R.S. § 13-3702 – Defacing or damaging petroglyphs, pictographs, caves or caverns
• A.R.S. § 13-3702.01 – Excavating certain sites, collecting specimens; classification
• A.R.S. § 41-845 – Unlawful reproduction of original archaeological specimen
• A.R.S. § 41-846 – Violation, classification

The Arizona State Historic Preservation Office administers the State Historic Preservation Act.