SECTION 25.6. Collections

(a) Maintenance. The commission will do the following:

(1) maintain collections recovered by the archeology division for the period of time required for their processing, analysis, and adequate reporting;

(2) maintain collections on loan to the archeology division for the period of time required for their processing, analysis, and adequate reporting and return or place such collections according to the terms of the loan agreement entered into with the collection owner;

(3) maintain on a temporary basis, collections recovered by other organizations or individuals from archeological sites in Texas that the archeology division agrees to accept for placement in an appropriate curatorial facility;

(4) refer to curatorial facilities all other requests from individuals, institutions, organizations, and agencies for collections placement; and

(5) maintain on a permanent basis only those collections falling within its responsibilities, for which no permanent repository can be found, and/or for comparative analysis.

(b) Curatorial facilities. In seeking curatorial facilities for collections held in temporary custody, the archeology division will observe the following procedures.

(1) All collections transferred by this office to a curatorial facility will include copies of all pertinent site records.

(2) Curatorial facilities will be identified by this office according to the criteria of existing state and federal standards for curation.

(3) For state held-in-trust collections, placement will be in accordance with the requirements specified in Chapter 29 of this title (relating to Management and Care of Artifacts and Collections).

(4) For collections that do not meet the state held-in-trust criteria, preference will be given in accordance with the following criteria:

(A) curatorial facilities that are in the region from which the collections were recovered;

(B) curatorial facilities that maintain procedures for access to collections and site records that prevent disclosure of information harmful to the resources involved;

(C) curatorial facilities that facilitate scientific, archeological research;

(D) curatorial facilities that observe state and/or federal standards for curation; and

(E) repositories in the State of Texas.

(5) Transfer of collections to curatorial facilities will be made under the terms of a written agreement between the facility and the commission. The agreement will include an inventory of transferred items, and its terms will be guided by the pertinent state or federal standards for curation. The agreement will provide that, should a repository fail to maintain the integrity of collections provided by the commission, or to protect them adequately, the repository will notify the commission so that other arrangements can be made for the collections.

(6) Pertinent data concerning collections, related site records, and the sites of resources from which the collections were made may be retained in the commission's inventory of archeological resources, and no transfer agreement will be made that prohibits the commission from retaining data and information.

(c) Human skeletal remains.

(1) This office will not publicly exhibit human skeletal remains recovered from archeological sites, and it will discourage the public exhibition of human skeletal remains recovered from archeological sites by others.

(2) Human skeletal remains and associated artifacts will be handled in a manner that complies with applicable state and federal laws, rules and regulations.

(d) Artifact identification. This office will not assist in the identification of unprovenienced artifacts.

(e) Appraisals. This office will not appraise collections or artifacts for private citizens, corporations, or organizations or retain an appraiser for or refer an appraiser to the private citizen, corporation or organization. THC personnel may evaluate state-associated collections for in-house purposes. Donors requiring appraisals for income tax purposes must obtain an appraisal at their own expense from an appraiser of their choice prior to donation. In-house evaluation of state-associated collections or artifacts retained at the commission's facilities for insurance purposes, traveling exhibits or activities within the professional community are professional assessments and not appraisals. In-house evaluations are the responsibility of the agency.

Source Note: The provisions of this §25.6 adopted to be effective May 20, 2013, 38 TexReg 2977