Diving for artifacts?

[Aric]

Lately ive been wanting to start diving for artifacts (civil war, etc...). Ive got a perfect place that I know has to have some civil war items in the water and the depth is only 35-30'. What kind of equipment would I need, are there any certain classes that would also help me out. Any tips on doing this sort of diving?

[Ohmdiver]

Start by checking your state laws regarding this topic. This is a highly illegal activity in NY without the right permission. There are some course available but, at least what I have found, not convienant for me.

Maritime Archaeological and Historical Society has a home study version. Judge it for yourself.


Good luck

[Aric]

Ive not been able to find any laws regarding this in TN, the only laws Ive seen are diving for artifacts in the city limits being illegal. The spot im looking at is far away form the city limit.

[adv_diver1]

We dive for artifacts, megladon teeth and such in the Cooper River here is Charleston, SC. No laws here anyways.. but always check your site specifically with Fish & Game or your local wildlife dept.

Good luck!!

[Ohmdiver]

Nothing would be worse than gathering a great collection and having some one take them away. I can tell you that in NY, if it has been on the bottom for more than 30 days it becomes property of NY. Removing it, especially if it is of historical value (and the general belief is that EVERYTHING is of Historical significants), is not a very smart choice. I hate myself for the following, but it may be advantagoues to check with a lawyer.

Here, not only will they take the artifacts, but they may take all your gear, and anything that may have been used in gathering those artifacts. Including, cars, boats, and other equipment.

Good luck.

[Aric]

I went ahead and emailed fish and game here, asking if there was any laws regarding this.

[RoadRacer1978]

You may have already looked at these, but these are the state laws in TN, I could find in reference to artifact recovery.

11-6-109. Private land — Trespass, vandalism, and unauthorized activities — Permission — Artifacts — Prohibited storage, dumping or littering. —

(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, association or any other entity shall excavate, damage, vandalize or remove any artifact from or otherwise alter or deface any site listed in the Tennessee register of archaeological sites without first obtaining landowner permission.
(c) No person, corporation, partnership, association or any other entity shall sell, offer to sell, purchase or offer to purchase, or otherwise exchange any artifact from a site listed in the Tennessee register of archaeological sites if the artifact has been removed or received in violation of this section.
(d) No person, corporation, partnership, association or any other entity shall store, dump, litter or otherwise dispose of any garbage, dead animal, sewage or toxic substance in any cave or sinkhole listed in the Tennessee register of archaeological sites.

[Acts 1970, ch. 468, § 9; T.C.A., § 11-1509; Acts 1984, ch. 801, § 2; 1989, ch. 591.]




11-6-105. Excavation of state lands — Permits — Unauthorized excavation — Penalty. —

(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, matter and artifacts.
(b) All such information and artifacts recovered from state lands shall be utilized solely for scientific or public educational purposes and shall remain the property of the state, unless the state archaeologist and the advisory council shall conclude that some artifacts do not merit retention.
(c) No person or organization, including any other agents or agencies of the state of Tennessee, unless acting as a duly authorized agent of the division of archaeology, shall excavate upon any site situated on lands owned or controlled by the state or any agency thereof.
(d) Permits and contracts for archaeological exploration or excavation may be granted by the state archaeologist through the division for such periods of time and under such terms and conditions as the state archaeologist may from time to time determine.
(e) All artifacts, photographs and records obtained by such agents shall remain the property of the state, subject to the decision of the state archaeologist and the advisory council, and shall be maintained in agreed upon public repositories.
(f) Any person, corporation, society or organization conducting such explorations or excavations upon lands owned or controlled by the state or any agency thereof without having first obtained permit from the state archaeologist commits a Class A misdemeanor, except that any violation occurring on a site listed in the Tennessee register of archaeological sites where the commercial or archaeological value of the artifact involved and the cost of restoration or repair of such archaeological site or artifact exceeds the sum of five thousand dollars ($5,000) is a Class E felony.
(g) Any and all artifacts and material excavated by such person or organization shall be forfeited to the state and shall be delivered forthwith to the division.

[Acts 1970, ch. 468, § 5; 1973, ch. 77, § 2; T.C.A., § 11-1505; Acts 1984, ch. 801, § 1; 1990, ch. 852, §§ 6, 7.]


11-6-106. Defacement of sites or artifacts — Misdemeanor. —

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, artifact, Indian painting, Indian carving, or sites and all such acts of vandalism shall be punished as Class A misdemeanors according to the provisions of this chapter.

[Acts 1970, ch. 468, § 6; T.C.A., § 11-1506; Acts 1989, ch. 591.]





11-5-108. Vandalism of caves or caverns. —

(a) It is an offense for any person, without the prior permission of the owner, to knowingly:
(1) Break, break off, crack, carve upon, write or otherwise mark upon, or in any manner destroy, mutilate, injure, deface, mar or harm any natural material found within any cave or cavern, such as stalactites, stalagmites, helictites, anthodites, gypsum flowers or needles, flowstone, draperies, columns or other similar crystalline material formations;
(2) Kill, harm or disturb any plant, animal or artifact found therein;
(3) Disturb or alter the natural condition of such cave or cavern; or
(4) Break, force, tamper with, remove, or otherwise disturb a lock, gate, door or other structure or obstruction designed to prevent entrance to a cave or cavern, whether or not entrance is actually gained.
(b) Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit the owner of property from performing on such owner's property any of the acts set forth in subsection (a).
(c) An act constituting a violation of this section is to be valued according to the provisions of § 39-11-106(a)(36) and punished as theft under § 39-14-103.

[Acts 1991, ch. 62, § 1.]

[Aric]

Thanks RoadRacer I didnt seem to find that info anywhere. TVA (Tennessee Valley Authorities) owns all the rivers in TN form what ive been told. So I guess recovering something is a no no. What about river cleanup divers? I know a few and they have told me what they have found, antique bottles, civil war cannon balls etc...

[Ohmdiver]

I really wish you the best of luck as I am on a similar path. keep the faith and do the research , maybe you can volunteer for some artifact recovery diving with the state?

Good luck

[jimmysdevoted]

ETSU, MTSU, UTK and TVA itself have resources for archaeology digs. S imple loophole exists for Studnets of archaeology, enrolled ina specific course at alocal college for the purpose of historical data.

Thast how tehy are doing digs in Gray.
If you live in teh KNoxville area, you can call TVA, downtown twin towers and tell the switchboard operator that you need ot talk with aliasion for public access and artifacts.
She will connect you with the liasion office.

Also you can contact any of the local college even LMU in Tazwell and ask them about permits for digs or finds and recovery.

TVA issues " hunters" permits for any work on the Lakes, but rivers also come under BLM (bereau land managment).


I know up at Cherokee, the TVA guys that are there during the day are wonderful to ask and they are willing to help.