Warum archäologische Gegenstände keine „Funde“ sein dürfen – Die Verwaltungsvorschrift zu § 17 Schatzregal DSchG NRW

Abstract

North-Rhine Westphalia’s amendment of its Heritage Protection Act (DSchG NRW) on 16 July 2013 made it one of the last federal states to introduce the term treasure trove for archaeological objects and thus the vague legal term “finds” as well. The Administrative Ordinance to implement the Act for the preservation of historic buildings and monuments in the German federal state of North-Rhine Westphalia (VV for the DSchG) of 11 April 2014 explains in more detail which archaeological objects are designated as “finds”. It states that, from now on, only archaeological objects from scientific digs are deemed to be portable archaeological monuments. Archaeological stray finds and detector finds, on the other hand, are always “finds” pursuant to Sect. 17 DSchG NRW without monument character; what is new is that only “finds of special scientific significance” are now covered by the DSchG. This means that North-Rhine Westphalia has created an unlimited treasure trove for portable archaeological heritage and archaeological objects from digs, and at the same time a greatly restricted treasure trove for archaeological stray finds and detector finds. This provision has extremely far-reaching consequences, since stray finds now no longer have to be registered by the specialist authorities; researchers will no longer be aware of them, and the sites of their discovery remain without legal protection. The implementation regulations thus contravene archaeological ethics and the European Valetta Treaty/Malta Convention.