P-9.002, r. 2.1 - Archaeological Research Regulation

Updated to 1 June 2024

This document has official status.

chapter P-9.002, r. 2.1

Archaeological Research Regulation

Cultural Heritage Act

(chapter P-9.002, s. 81, par. 2).

DIVISION I DEFINITIONS

1. In this Regulation, unless otherwise indicated by the context,

(1)  “ecofact” means a material relic from the animal, vegetal or mineral kingdom that was not made by man but testifies to human occupancy, including bones, seeds or coal;

(2)  “archaeological operation” means the excavations and surveys for the purposes of finding archaeological property or sites, including monitoring, trial excavation and collecting activities;

(3)  “person in charge of the archaeological operation” means any natural person who supervises the operation on the site and takes part in the carrying out of that operation and in the drafting of the archaeological research report.

M.O. 2013-01, s. 1.

DIVISION II ISSUE OF AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH PERMIT

2. An archaeological research permit may be issued by the Minister to a person who applies for it if the following conditions are met:

(1)  the applicant provides, in addition to the written consent of the immovable’s owner or of any other interested person, an agreement entered into with that owner or interested person concerning the nature and duration of the work, and the measures for conservation of objects that will be uncovered;

(2)  the Minister has received every annual archaeological research report related to a permit now expired or revoked that was held by that person;

(3)  the applicant submits an archaeological research project that includes

(a)  the place of the archaeological operation, including the precise perimeter of the operation and the archaeological sites already known in that perimeter on a plan or topographic map;

(b)  the nature of the archaeological operation, including details on the context and its objectives, and a history of the prior archaeological researches in the perimeter of the planned operation;

(c)  the planned duration of the archaeological research with the dates scheduled for the beginning and end of the operation;

(d)  the composition of the team that will carry out the archaeological operation: the name of all the persons in charge of the archaeological operation, assistants and specialists, and the number of technicians;

(e)  except for technicians, the record of qualification of each member of the archaeological operation team, including education or university training and relevant experience and, for all the persons in charge of the archaeological operation, a list of their scientific publications, a list of the bodies to which they have been attached since the end of their training and their position in each body;

(f)  the methods that the person plans to use to operate on the site and to record data;

(g)  if the application concerns an archaeological site to which a Borden code has been given by the Ministère de la Culture et des Communications, the strategies that the person plans to use, on the site and in the laboratory, to preventively preserve or restore the movable and immovable relics;

(h)  the places and circumstances in which collections and data will be treated and analyzed and, in the case of an archaeological operation on land in the domain of the State, the proposed place for the deposit of collections;

(i)  a description of the material means for the research, in particular the equipment and premises; and

(j)  the name of the persons and bodies that provided funds, the amounts obtained for the research project and an itemized budget for the financial resources at the person’s disposal at each stage of the research, such as on-site operation, the treatment of objects uncovered, the analysis and the drafting of the archaeological research report.

M.O. 2013-01, s. 2.

3. In addition to the conditions provided for in the Cultural Heritage Act (chapter P-9.002), an archaeological research permit is issued conditional on the following:

(1)  all the persons in charge of the archaeological research who are mentioned in the permit application are the persons who, during the archaeological operation, perform the tasks identified under their name in the permit application;

(2)  the permit holder informs the Minister in writing of the nature of and reasons for any permit modification desired by the permit holder.

Any permit modification granted by the Minister forms, as a condition, part of the initial permit of the permit holder.

M.O. 2013-01, s. 3.

DIVISION III REVOCATION OF AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH PERMIT

4. In addition to the cases provided for in the Cultural Heritage Act (chapter P-9.002) for the revocation of an archaeological research permit, any permit issued by the Minister may be revoked if the information provided by its holder under section 2 is inaccurate or incomplete.

M.O. 2013-01, s. 4.

DIVISION IV ANNUAL ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH REPORT

5. The annual archaeological research report provided for in section 72 of the Cultural Heritage Act (chapter P-9.002) must be submitted to the Minister before the expiry of 1 year from the date of issue of the permit.

M.O. 2013-01, s. 5.

6. The archaeological research report must contain the following elements: the context, information on the archaeological operation, the results of the research, the conclusions and recommendations, and schedules.

M.O. 2013-01, s. 6.

7. The context given in the report must include the following information on the site of the archaeological operation:

(1)  the ancient and current environmental framework in connection with the findings, that is, information on the evolution of wildlife, flora, geology and landscape;

(2)  the historic and prehistoric framework, presenting the various cultural periods, that was used for interpreting the results;

(3)  maps, ancient plans and iconography, if any;

(4)  a history of the previous archaeological researches.

M.O. 2013-01, s. 7.

8. The archaeological research information that must be exposed in the report is

(1)  a summary, not exceeding 2 pages, of the work performed and of the results and conclusions;

(2)  the nature and duration of the archaeological operation and the dates on which that operation is to begin and end on the site;

(3)  the name of the permit holder, the permit number and the permit holder’s professional contact information;

(4)  the name of the promoters;

(5)  the composition of the team for the archaeological operation, the analysis and the drafting of the report, including each person’s responsibility;

(6)  the location of the archaeological operation site on a topographic map;

(7)  a description of each place of operation or archaeological site concerned;

(8)  the methods for each type of operation and the methods of recording field data, including the grid layout and the on-site establishment strategy; and

(9)  the measures taken for the protection and preservation of the archaeological objects and relics.

M.O. 2013-01, s. 8.

9. The results of the research must be presented in a detailed manner in the archaeological research report and include

(1)  the location of the site and its limits defined by geographical coordinates on a topographic map, for all the archaeological sites affected by the operation;

(2)  an aerial photograph or a space map showing the site’s limits;

(3)  for every site where archaeological property has been uncovered, a plan showing the areas having been the subject of excavations or surveys including the location of negative and positive trial excavations and any information on the presence of vegetation, watercourses, railway, road and public utility infrastructures and buildings;

(4)  a spatial distribution plan of the traces of settlement and vestiges found, with the orientation indicated;

(5)  representative stratigraphic sections with elevations, exposing the natural and man-made stratigraphic layers necessary for understanding the place of operation, with the orientation indicated;

(6)  color photographs of the operation site and, if applicable, for each site, stratigraphies, traces of settlement and significant artifacts from each cultural period with, for each photograph of stratigraphies and traces of settlement, with the orientation indicated;

(7)  the event-based description, analysis and interpretation of the content in terms of artifacts, ecofacts and architectural vestiges in the operation site and at each stratigraphic level, including their chronologic and cultural attribution and the integration of the results of specialized studies made, for instance, in animal osteology, bioarchaeology, material culture, sedimentology, archaeobotany, palynology and carbon-14 dating; and

(8)  for each archaeological site affected by the operation, an appraisal of its heritage values and archaeological importance.

M.O. 2013-01, s. 9.

10. The conclusions and recommendations in the research report must include a summary of the results of the research, the general conclusions, recommendations as to the follow-up to be given to the archaeological operation and a statement of the development potential of the operation site.

M.O. 2013-01, s. 10.

11. The schedules that the research report must contain are

(1)  for each archaeological site, a summary of the following information: the identification of the site and its location, the Borden code, the cultural periods associated with it, the work carried out, the analyses made, the archaeological values associated with the site, the recommendations, the nature, dating and function of the immovable vestiges, and the nature and dating of the artifacts and ecofacts;

(2)  a legible copy of field notes, plans and drawings;

(3)  a copy of the specialized study carried out;

(4)  for each archaeological site, a detailed inventory of artifacts and ecofacts and the objects’ catalogue cards, if any.

M.O. 2013-01, s. 11.

12. Until 10 April 2014 and despite sections 6 to 11, the holder of a permit issued before 11 April 2013 may, in lieu of the report provided for in those sections, submit to the Minister, within the period provided for in section 5, an annual report complying with section 11 of the Regulation respecting archaeological research (chapter P-9.002, r. 2).

M.O. 2013-01, s. 12.

13. This Regulation replaces the Regulation respecting archaeological research (chapter P-9.002, r. 2).

M.O. 2013-01, s. 13.

14. (Omitted).

M.O. 2013-01, s. 14.

REFERENCES

M.O. 2013-01, 2013 G.O. 2, 766