If you find an artifact in a national park, leave it be to avoid potential legal consequences
National Parks are full of beauty, abundant wildlife and ancient artifacts.
Artifacts are important to archaeologists, who can use their findings to unlock more knowledge about the history of the place where they were found and the person who possessed them.
If you happen to come across an ancient artifact in a national park, remember to leave it be and follow the following steps outlined by the National Park Service.
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- Don’t touch or take
- Take a picture of your find for reporting
- Tell a park ranger about what you found
1. Don’t touch or take
If you see an artifact in a national park, leave it alone.
It’s illegal to take artifacts from the national parks around the country.
Laws protecting the artifacts on national park land have been created and enacted for many years.
If you find an artifical in a national park, leave it alone and report the discovery to a park ranger. (Las Vegas Review-Journal/Tribune News Service via Getty Images I Getty Images )
In 1906, Theodore Roosevelt signed the Antiquities Act and was the first in the country “to provide general legal protection of cultural and natural resources of historic or scientific interest on federal lands,” according to the National Park Service.
Later, the Archaeological Resources Protection Act was signed into law in 1979.
The purpose of the act is “to secure, for the present and future benefit of the American people, the protection of archaeological resources and sites which are on public lands and Indian lands, and to foster increased cooperation and exchange of information between governmental authorities, the professional archaeological community, and private individuals having collections of archaeological resources and data which were obtained before October 31, 1979,” per the National Park Service.
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Consequences of breaking the law could include jail time or fines.
Keep in mind that an artifact may expand beyond what typically comes to mind when you think of a relic.
An artifact includes any object that was made by a human being, according to National Geographic. This could be anything from jewelry, a shard of glass, coins, fragments of pottery and more.
An artifact can be anything from a fragmented piece of pottery to well-preserved jewelry. (ASAAD NIAZI/AFP via Getty Images)
2. Take a picture of your find for reporting
If you do find an artifact in your travels through one of America’s picturesque national parks, snap a picture from a safe distance away.
When you take your photo, make sure that there is some sort of landmark in the photo that signals where you are in the park.
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Use the photo for reporting purposes only and refrain from posting it on social media, per the National Park Service’s guidance.
If you don’t have a phone on you to take a photo, you can also sketch your find.
Taking a photo of the artifact you find can be helpful when you report the discovery to a park ranger. (Michael Melford/Design Pics Editorial/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
3. Tell a park ranger about what you found
After you’ve taken a picture or a sketch of the artifact, locate a park ranger and notify them of what you saw and where you saw it.
If you can’t find a park ranger, you can also notify the national park of your finding through email.
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Email addresses for national parks can be found on each park’s online contact page.
