The Antiquities Act is the first law to establish that archeological sites on public lands are important public resources. It obligates federal agencies that manage the public lands to preserve for present and future generations the historic, scientific, commemorative, and cultural values of the archaeological and historic sites and structures on these lands. It also authorizes the President to protect landmarks, structures, and objects of historic or scientific interest by designating them as National Monuments.

The Act grew out of concerns that developed over the course of the last quarter of the 19th century for the preservation of America’s archeological sites and the artifacts and information that they contained. National and regional educators and scientists, including those involved in the developing profession of archeology, joined together in a movement to safeguard sites on public lands being endangered by haphazard digging and purposeful, commercial artifact looting.

After a generation-long effort, on June 8, 1906, President Theodore Roosevelt signed the Antiquities Act into law, thus establishing the first general legal protection of cultural and natural resources in the United States. The Act set important precedents, including the assertion of a broad public interest in archeology on public lands, as well as support for the care and management of archeological sites, collections, and information. The act linked the protection of sites and their appropriate, scientific excavation with public programs to care for and provide public interpretation of artifact collections and information from the study of a site and its contents. (Read more about the Antiquities Act of 1906 and find a link to the act itself.)

The Antiquities Act stands as an important achievement in the progress of conservation and preservation efforts in the United States. Its effects are still felt. The Act created the basis for the federal government’s efforts to protect archeological sites from looting and vandalism. It provided a foundation of public policy from which more specific public attention to and preservation of historic places and structures, cultural landscapes, and other cultural resources developed during the course of the 20th century. Today, many different organizations cooperate in diverse partnerships, including governments at the Federal, state, tribal and local levels; professional and scholarly groups; and communities. In shaping public policy to protect a broad array of cultural and natural resources, the impact of the Antiquities Act is unmatched.

In 2016, the centennial celebrations of a number of national monuments designated by the president under the Antiquities Act will overlap with another important celebration, the centennial of the creation of the National Park Service. Join the Archeology Program and the National Park Service in recognizing the significance of the Antiquities Act to all peoples. (Read the Commemorating the Centennial of the Antiquities Act, Director's Memorandum, February 23, 2005 (.pdf version)

Read more about the Antiquities Act:

• The Antiquities Act of 1906. Ronald F. Lee, National Park Service, Department of the Interior, Washington, DC. Originally published 1970, electronic edition, 2000.
• Edgar Lee Hewett and the Political Process. Raymond Harris Thompson, Journal of the Southwest 42(2):271–318. Originally published 2000, electronic edition, 2005.
• The Antiquities Act—Setting Basic Preservation Policies. Francis P. McManamon, CRM 19(7):18-23, 1996. (.pdf)
• Online Feature: The Antiquities Act Centennial. Archaeology Magazine, 2006.
• "Challenging the Antiquities Act." Scott Miller, People, Land, and Water, September/October 1999.
• America’s National Monuments. Hal Rothman, Originally published 1989, electronic edition, 2005.
• See Frequently Asked Questions (doc) for lists of national monuments designated by Congress, name and designation changes, abolished sites, and the acreages presidents proclaimed into national monuments.
• A number of national monuments have since been abolished. Learn more at About “Abolished” National Monuments.

Centennial commemoration on the web:

• Bureau of Land Management: Adventures in the Past: Antiquities Act 1906-2006 and National Landscape Conservation Program National Monuments.
• National Park Service Nature and Science Program: Protecting and Restoring: Antiquities Act.
• National Park Service History Program: The Antiquities Act.
• U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service: Antiquities Act Centennial Overview.
• American Anthropological Association: Antiquities Act.
• National Trust for Historic Preservation: Address by Richard Moe and and article by Dwight Young, In the Beginning.