Stop work in a generous area around the discovery; do not continue grading to see what else is present.
Field protocol · landowners, developers and contractors
Do not collect first. Protect the context first.
An artifact's research value depends on where it was found, its soil context and its relationship to other features. Well-intended collecting can destroy the evidence needed to understand and protect a site.
Immediate discovery protocol.
Leave artifacts in place. Do not wash, scrape, collect, sort or post location photographs online.
Secure the area and record who discovered it, when, the general context and the work underway—without broadly distributing coordinates.
Notify the project manager, landowner, environmental/land-use counsel and qualified archaeologist.
If bone or a possible burial is present, treat it as a separate emergency: stop work, protect the area and contact law enforcement/coroner and appropriate authorities as counsel directs.
Follow the permit, MOA, treatment plan and inadvertent-discovery protocol; obtain written clearance before restarting work.
Indicators professionals evaluate.
Surface finds alone rarely establish boundaries, age, integrity or significance. Archaeologists evaluate patterns and context.
Material indicators
Pottery sherds, lithic flakes and tools, shell concentrations, faunal material, trade goods and daub or other building material.
Feature indicators
Hearths, pits, post molds, midden deposits, prepared surfaces, stains and patterned artifact distributions.
Landscape indicators
Elevated ground near waterways, terraces, historic routes and settlements, old fields and locations predicted by regional settlement models.
Document indicators
State site files, prior survey reports, historic maps, deeds, plats, oral histories, environmental reviews and earlier permit conditions.
Site-security rule: this guide intentionally omits coordinates and detailed artifact-concentration maps. Archaeological locations should be shared only with professionals, agencies, tribes and responsible parties who need them.
Preservation is a management system.
Preservation in place
Use buffers, conservation areas, easements, redesign, controlled vegetation management, signage that does not reveal sensitive locations, and recorded owner or HOA obligations.
Scientific recovery
Where avoidance is not feasible and review permits mitigation, follow an accepted research design, controlled excavation, laboratory analysis, reporting and permanent curation.
Tribal engagement
Engage appropriate tribal representatives early and respectfully. Consultation is a relationship and decision process—not a ceremonial step after the development plan is fixed.
Public interpretation
Share history through exhibits, responsible education and interpretive materials while withholding location details that increase vandalism or looting risk.