Section 227-C:8 Division and Disposition of Historic Resources.
I. The commissioner shall be the technical custodian of all state historic resources and shall make arrangements for:
(a) The allocation of any historic resources recovered from a permitted field investigation between state and private custody.
(b) The disposition of the state portion in an appropriate institution of the state as close to the place of origin as possible.
(c) A preservation agreement of the portion released for private custody.
(d) Any temporary loan of the historic resources to qualified persons or institutions in or out of state.
(e) The acquisition, disposition, and placement of objects of historic importance.
II. The permittee shall be required under the terms of the permit to preserve, conserve and restore, as necessary, any historic resources, and to catalogue and record as specified by the department.
III. The commissioner shall fairly and equitably allocate and distribute historic resources recovered from a permitted field investigation, provided that:
(a) Custody of isolated finds from the surface of state land, or the bottom of state waters, is granted to the discoverer when these are brought to the division or its designee, for identification and evaluation of context.
(b) Assurances are made that the original discoverer of a previously unrecorded historic resource receive custody of 25 percent of the recovered material from subsequent field investigations of that resource in which he actively participates.
(c) The formula for the division of the recovered materials shall be based on the percentage of private and public capital invested in a permitted field investigation, with the respective state and private shares being determined by the ratio of public to private investment, provided that no less than 25 percent be retained by the state and no more than 75 percent be released for private custody.
(d) The division of the recovered materials shall be made by the drawing of an appropriate number of equal lots by the permittee, with the arrangement into the necessary number of equal lots being the responsibility of the permittee with the concurrence of the historic preservation officer.
IV. Private custody of historic resources shall be governed by a preservation agreement with the state. The preservation agreement shall be in perpetuity unless rescinded or limited to a period of time by the commissioner and shall specify:
(a) The catalogue numbers and descriptions of the historic resources.
(b) The responsibility of the custodian to guard and protect such materials against loss, theft, destruction, damage or deterioration.
(c) A requirement that the materials be available for reasonably convenient study by qualified persons, agencies and institutions.
(d) A provision for the bequest of the materials upon settlement of the estate.
(e) The custodian's liability to obtain written consent from the division for sale, auction, gift or trade of the collection; provided, however, any disposition of materials by sale or auction shall require that an assessment of 25 percent of the monetary value be paid to the state.
(f) That physical possession of such materials shall revert to the state if the commissioner decides that the designated custodian is not properly caring for such materials or is not keeping them available for reasonably convenient study as required.
V. In considering the disposition of the state share of recovered materials:
(a) An appropriate institution for disposition is one with laboratory facilities where recovered objects may be cleaned, restored and preserved, or one willing to contract with another institution for these services, with secure and fire-protected space of sufficient size for orderly storage and protection of objects, records, photographs and other historic resources, and with a staff capable of caring for the material and making it available to qualified persons or institutions upon a recommendation of the commissioner.
(b) The right and privilege of final disposition shall be granted to the municipality of origin when that municipality requests the historic resources through its local museum, library, historical society, school, or other institution which qualifies as an appropriate institution.
(c) Notwithstanding its right and privilege of final disposition, the right and privilege of initial display or use of the historic resources for other public education activities shall be granted the municipality of origin when that municipality, through its local museum, library, historical society, school, or other institution, agrees to provide secure and fire-protected facilities for storage and exhibit.
VI. Human remains shall be investigated and disposed of in accordance with the provisions of RSA 227-C:8-a through 8-g, and to the extent that they are inconsistent, the provisions of paragraphs I-V shall not apply to the disposition of human remains. Human remains which qualify as historic resources shall be fully documented before final disposition. Documentation shall include, at a minimum: a description of skeletal material (such as age at death, sex, metrical data, and pathologies); a description of artifacts and other materials (such as the type of stone or fabric, size, and indications of use); age of the remains, and cultural association. Human remains which are subject to reinterment under the provisions of RSA 289 shall be accordingly interred, but those which are not, including prehistoric remains, shall be released for reinterment and shall be disposed of according to the provisions of RSA 227-C:8-g.
VII. Appropriate records of all historic resources shall be maintained by the division of historical resources.
Source. 1981, 504:5. 1985, 345:3. 1986, 76:1, 2; 80:9. 1988, 201:5, eff. July 1, 1988.