People who have archaeological sites on their land have many ways of
protecting the sites. A site covered by natural vegetation usually is
camouflaged and has limited access. As long as the owner does not clear
the land, disturbance to the site will be minimized. A site already in a
cultivated field probably will not suffer significantly from continued
plowing at the same depth. Although initial plowing altered artifact
relationships in the plow zone, the materials beneath remain well
protected.
A landowner who is interested in protecting a site may want to have it
recognized by placing it on the Registry of State Cultural Resource
Landmarks. The Registry is established as an authoritative guide to the
state’s most important archaeological sites. Once a site is placed on
the Registry, there is an agreement between the owner and the State of
Louisiana to help protect it. This process ensures that important sites
will be recognized, preserved, and protected to the maximum extent
possible.
[Illustration: The site in this soybean field has already been
disturbed, but probably will not suffer significantly if plowing is
continued at the same depth.]
[Illustration: Landowners who finance excavations can receive
substantial tax benefits.]
A landowner who is unable to protect a site because of plans to plow
deeper, cultivate an unplowed area, or do construction, should alert the
Division of Archaeology. If he gives enough advance warning, an
archaeologist may be able to evaluate the site before the changes begin.
Recently, the tax advantages available to site owners have been
clarified. One landowner paid half of the excavation cost at a site on
his land and claimed his cost as a tax deduction. Later, he donated the
artifacts from the site and also deducted their worth, equivalent to the
entire cost of the excavation.
Federal tax incentives also apply to the gift of an important
archaeological site to a governmental or nonprofit organization. This
donation can be either an outright gift or an easement (in which the
owner gives up certain control of the land, but retains ownership). In
either case, the transaction qualifies as a charitable contribution for
federal income tax, estate tax, and gift tax purposes.