About the Archaeological Permit Program

The Cultural Properties Act (Section 18-6-9 NMSA 1978, as amended) makes it unlawful for any person to excavate, injure, destroy, or remove any cultural property or artifact on state land without an archaeological permit. A permit is required to use mechanical earth-moving equipment for the excavation of an archaeological site(s) on privately owned land in New Mexico. It is also unlawful for any person to intentionally excavate any unmarked human burial, and any material object or artifact interred with the burial, located on state or private land in New Mexico without a permit (Section 18-6-11 NMSA, 1978, as amended). Permits are required for archaeological investigation on federal land. Contact the appropriate federal agency for the necessary permit(s).

Under the Cultural Properties Act, the CPRC is empowered to issue permits to qualified applicants to conduct archaeological investigations, with the concurrence of the State Archaeologist and the State Historic Preservation Officer.

If you are in need of an archaeological consultant, you can download a current listing of archaeologists and archaeological firms (PDF format) who hold an Annual Archaeological Survey Permit.

Cultural Properties Review Committee 2008 Schedule

The projected schedule for meetings of the 2007 Cultural Properties Review Committee is listed below. These meeting dates are provided for your reference and you should always call to confirm the actual date of the meeting and the deadline for submittals. If submitting a project specific permit application, please include 5 copies of the proposal.

*The deadlines for the December meeting are set early to accommodate the renewals of permits for the 2008 calendar year and Thanksgiving weekend.

Please contact me if you have any questions. I can be reached by telephone at (505) 827-4064 or by email at michelle.ensey@state.nm.us