Title 11, Natural Areas and Recreation

(a) The state of Tennessee reserves to itself the exclusive right and privilege of field archaeology on sites owned or controlled by the state, its agencies, departments, institutions and commissions in order to protect and preserve archaeological and scientific information, matt…

In order that sites and artifacts on state-owned or controlled land shall be protected for the benefit of the public, it is a misdemeanor for any person, natural or corporate, to write upon, carve upon, paint, deface, mutilate, destroy, or otherwise injure any object of antiquity…

(a) All state agencies, departments, institutions and commissions, as well as all counties and municipalities, shall cooperate fully with the division of archaeology. (b) Where any sites or artifacts may be found or discovered on property owned or controlled by the state or by an…

(a) Upon written notice to the commissioner of general services, given by the state archaeologist, the commissioner shall reserve from sale any state lands, including lands forfeited to the state for nonpayment of taxes, on which sites or artifacts are located or may be found; pr…

(a) It shall be deemed an act of trespass and a Class A misdemeanor for any person, natural or corporate, to excavate and remove artifacts from the private land of any owner without first obtaining the owner's express permission. (b) No person, corporation, partnership, associati…

An archaeological site of significance in the scientific study of Tennessee's aboriginal past or important to public knowledge and appreciation of this history may be publicly designated by the commissioner of environment and conservation and placed in the Tennessee register of a…

The division of archaeology may make a contract with any corporation or organization for the conduct of archaeology upon any site, particularly sites threatened with damage or destruction by public or private construction projects.

(a) All acts declared to be misdemeanors in this part, and not otherwise classified, are Class A misdemeanors. (b) All acts declared to be felonies in this part, and not otherwise classified, are Class E felonies. (c) When properly commissioned and qualified by the commissioner o…

The department of transportation is hereby authorized and directed to enter into appropriate contracts and cooperative agreements with the division of archaeology and the United States bureau of public roads and to expend funds, both state and federal, in aid of archaeological su…

(a) The division of archaeology is hereby authorized to accept grants, bequests, devises, gifts, and donations for purposes of furthering the state program in archaeology and to expend funds so received for those purposes. (b) The department of environment and conservation has fu…

(a) The division of archaeology is hereby authorized to assist and support the programs of the Tennessee Archaeological Society to the extent that the purposes and aims of the two (2) coincide. (b) The Tennessee Archaeological Society is hereby requested to assist and cooperate w…

(a) When a burial ground or other area containing human remains of Native American Indians is excavated, representatives of Native American Indians shall have a right to be present on the site at all times excavation or treatment of such remains is taking place. (b) The departmen…

There shall be no public exhibition or display of Native American Indian human remains, except as evidence in a judicial proceeding.

(a) The import into Tennessee or the export from Tennessee of human remains is prohibited except in the following instances:(1) Import or export by hospitals, medical schools, colleges or universities for education or research purposes;(2) Import for burial or reburial in Tenness…

Any human remains or any Native American burial objects discovered in the course of an excavation, exhumation or accidentally, and any such remains and their associated burial objects confiscated under § 11-6-118, shall be properly reburied following scientific analysis within si…

(a) Within existing resources and personnel, the division is authorized to carry out a coordinated program using qualified volunteers to implement the purposes of this part pursuant to § 11-6-101. (b) The division may establish an organized program of providing archaeological inf…

(a) Since the congress has found that the state has certain responsibilities under the Abandoned Shipwreck Act of 1987, Public Law No. 100-298 (43 U.S.C. § 2101 et seq.), the division of archaeology is authorized to:(1) Develop a plan regarding significant shipwreck sites in Tenn…