Die Grabungsrichtlinien 2021 der LWL-Archäologie für Westfalen – wie verbindlich sind Durchführungsvorschriften?

Abstract

Within the framework of the polluter-pays principle, excavations are carried out for which excavation guidelines have been developed in the individual federal states of Germany so that the procedures and documentation of the excavations are more uniform and comparable. The new excavation guidelines of the Westphalian State Archaeology (“LWL-Archäologie für Westfalen”) published in February 2021 contain some serious innovations; among other things, they provide for a complete transfer of the rights of use to the excavation results to the LWL Archaeology for Westphalia. This article explores the legal binding force of these excavation guidelines. It shows that they apply only to stately excavations; company excavations are not affected by them.