As used in this chapter, unless the context requires a different meaning:

Terms Used In Virginia Code 10.1-2300

  • Battlefield property: means any real property in the Commonwealth that is listed in the Report on the Nation's Civil War Battlefields by the Civil War Sites Advisory Commission (Civil War Sites Advisory Commission/National Park Service, 1993, as amended); the Report to Congress on the Historic Preservation of Revolutionary War and War of 1812 Sites in the United States by the American Battlefield Protection Program of the National Park Service (U. See Virginia Code 10.1-2200
  • Board: means the Board of Historic Resources. See Virginia Code 10.1-2200
  • Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
  • Department: means the Department of Historic Resources. See Virginia Code 10.1-2200
  • Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
  • Field investigation: means the study of the traces of human culture at any site by means of surveying, sampling, excavating, or removing surface or subsurface material, or going on a site with that intent. See Virginia Code 10.1-2300
  • Includes: means includes, but not limited to. See Virginia Code 1-218
  • Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
  • Locality: means a county, city, or town as the context may require. See Virginia Code 1-221
  • Object of antiquity: means any relic, artifact, remain, including human skeletal remains, specimen, or other archaeological article that may be found on, in, or below the surface of the earth that has historic, scientific, archaeologic, or educational value. See Virginia Code 10.1-2300
  • Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
  • Person: means any natural individual, partnership, association, corporation, or other legal entity. See Virginia Code 10.1-2300
  • Site: means a geographical area on dry land that contains any evidence of human activity that is or may be the source of important historic, scientific, archaeologic, or educational data or objects. See Virginia Code 10.1-2300
  • State: when applied to a part of the United States, includes any of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the United States Virgin Islands. See Virginia Code 1-245
  • state agency: means the same as that term is defined in § 2. See Virginia Code 1-206

“Battlefield preservation organization” means a private nonprofit organization whose primary purpose is the preservation of one or more historical battlefields, including a battlefield property as defined in § 10.1-2200.

“Field investigation” means the study of the traces of human culture at any site by means of surveying, sampling, excavating, or removing surface or subsurface material, or going on a site with that intent.

“Field supervisor” means a person who is physically present at least 70 percent of the time during a field investigation, exploration, or recovery operation involving the removal, destruction, or disturbance of any object of antiquity and who directly oversees such field investigation, exploration, or recovery operation.

“Object of antiquity” means any relic, artifact, remain, including human skeletal remains, specimen, or other archaeological article that may be found on, in, or below the surface of the earth that has historic, scientific, archaeologic, or educational value.

“Person” means any natural individual, partnership, association, corporation, or other legal entity.

“Site” means a geographical area on dry land that contains any evidence of human activity that is or may be the source of important historic, scientific, archaeologic, or educational data or objects.

“State archaeological site” means an area designated by the Department in which it is reasonable to expect to find objects of antiquity.

“State archaeological zone” means an interrelated grouping of state archaeological sites.

“State archaeologist” means the individual designated pursuant to § 10.1-2301.

“State-controlled land” means any land owned by the Commonwealth or under the primary administrative jurisdiction of any state agency. “State agency” shall not mean any locality or any board or authority organized under state law to perform local or regional functions. “State-controlled land” includes state parks, state wildlife areas, state recreation areas, highway rights-of-way, and state-owned easements.

1977, c. 424, § 10-150.3; 1984, c. 750; 1988, c. 891, § 10.1-900; 1989, c. 656; 2005, c. 457; 2020, c. 1106; 2021, Sp. Sess. I, c. 59.