National Heritage Resources Act, 1999 (Act No.25 of 1999)RegulationsSouth African Heritage Resources Agency (SAHRA) Permit RegulationsChapter IV : Application for Permit : Archaeological or Palaeontological Site or Meteoriate (Section 34(4))14. Standards of curation |
| (1) | The permit holder must enter into a prior agreement with a recognised museum or university department with an established archaeological or palaeontological archive and a collections management policy that is approved by SAHRA. |
| (2) | The material should preferably be curated and stored in a museum or other institution with proven capacity in the same province as the original site, unless an institution in another province already has a collection from the site and is willing to accept further material until such time as the province of origin acquires the capacity. |
| (3) | Institutions wishing to establish archaeological and palaeontological material and data archives and to curate and store such material must organize it in an accessible form that renders the data capable of critical examination. Such an archive requires a written collections management policy that covers in detail policy and procedures on acquisition, processing of finds, documentation, site recording, storage management, conservation and inventory control. |
| (4) | All the material so curated will become the property of the said institution: provided that the collector or excavator must have access to the material at all reasonable times. |
| (5) | At the initiation of an excavation or collecting project, formal agreement must be reached between researcher and collaborating institution as to financial and other requirements and responsibilities for curation and documentation. These issues should be addressed in the institution's collections management policy. |
| (6) | The item(s) must be accessioned as soon as possible in the collaborating institution specified by the permit and must be cross-referenced to the site report. |
| (7) | Any pictorial recording (photography, tracings, etc.) made as part of the survey must be marked and cross-referenced to the site report. Pictorial records must be properly curated by the collaborating institution and, if possible, a full set of such records must be lodged with the provincial recording centre. |