So Close!!!! Need Hoosier advice

[FairfieldOH]

I called the owner name I was given for the farm I found my mano on. He was a supernice older man, and said as long as it was just me, my wife and daughter, he was ok with us walking his land. I was so excited to have our first field to walk, and a seemingly good one to boot. I asked him what part is his property, and from another line I hear "You can't do that Jack". My heart sank! He (Jack) said I would have to talk to her, she owns the land. She told me they rent the land out, and the crop is up. I still had a little hope and asked her if it would be ok to walk it after the harvest. She then said there is a law in Indiana that any artifacts found on farm land belongs to the state. I gave up at that point. Does any of our Hoosier brethren know if this is true? They only own half of the land and I was going to contact the other owner.
Thanks!
Don

[Steve Valentine]

Don, is that farm where you found the Mano in Indiana? I thought you had said it was where Hannah plays soccer and I guess I just assumed it was close to Fairfield or in Fairfield. I have never heard of any law like that and there are tons of folks who hunt in Indiana and post on here and other sites. I think she's just blowing smoke myself.

[FairfieldOH]

Hi Steve, Yes, it's where I found my mano. It was an away soccer game, just over the border into Indiana. She didn't sound very friendly. Not mean, just very business like. I think she might be blowing smoke too. Even if it is the law, let me take the chance! The only thing is I know the city owns a lot of the farm land and rents it out to farmers so they can avoid paying property tax. I thought they were the owners, but if the city owns it, she might be right. I have another name of a guy who supposedly owns the part of the farm where I actually found the rock (It looks like one field, but it is owned by 2 people, and the other people own the other end). The only contact info I have for him is on Facebook, so I sent him another message today and have my fingers crossed. I have never had any luck using facebook, or anything else I guess, but here's hoping.

[FairfieldOH]

Julie found this on the internet, so I guess as long as the land is privately owned.....

Indiana Archaeology Laws

According to Indiana law, 'artifacts' are objects found on or in the ground that were made or used before December 1, 1870. This would include arrowheads. Archaeological sites and burial sites are protected and it is illegal to disturb them when looking for artifacts. There is also a requirement that accidental discovery of archaeological or burial sites be reported. Arrowheads found in State and National parks should be turned over to park authorities, because it is illegal to remove artifacts from these public lands. However, surface artifacts found on private property can be collected with permission of the owner. So, 'amateur archeology' or the hunting and collecting of arrowheads, is legal on private property in Indiana

[joshuaream]

Everyone says their state has the worst laws, but Indiana is probably one of the strictest states out there. Digging for artifacts on private land is illegal, and people have been arrested and gone to jail for it. Some farmers have heard of this and assume it includes everything, and that might be what the other lady was refering to...

Any surface hunting on public land is a no no, and that probably includes creeks, lakes, resevoirs, etc. Surface hunting on private land is perfectly legal, and a surprising number of farms are fine with it. I am from there, but it was usually rare to get a rude response or no to hunting.

From my understanding, only grey area on surface finds on private lands in Indiana are on private lands that were part of the Hoosier National Forest, that were swapped for adjacent lands and then later developed. If their farm is leased land, there is some but not a lot of that in Indiana it might also fall into this grey area...

Originally Posted by FairfieldOH

Julie found this on the internet, so I guess as long as the land is privately owned.....

Indiana Archaeology Laws

According to Indiana law, 'artifacts' are objects found on or in the ground that were made or used before December 1, 1870. This would include arrowheads. Archaeological sites and burial sites are protected and it is illegal to disturb them when looking for artifacts. There is also a requirement that accidental discovery of archaeological or burial sites be reported. Arrowheads found in State and National parks should be turned over to park authorities, because it is illegal to remove artifacts from these public lands. However, surface artifacts found on private property can be collected with permission of the owner. So, 'amateur archeology' or the hunting and collecting of arrowheads, is legal on private property in Indiana

[FairfieldOH]

Thanks for the info. That clears it up a lot. As much as i would olove to walk the land, I really don't want to go to jail! I'll have to talk to the farmers and see what the story is.

[KYPaleoMan]

Wow, so you can't dig for artifacts on your own property in Indiana? That's ridiculous.

[joshuaream]

Originally Posted by KYPaleoMan

Wow, so you can't dig for artifacts on your own property in Indiana? That's ridiculous.

Depending on who you talk to it was either a mistake or it was intentional "trickery" by some Archaeologists with Indiana University who were consulting on the wording. The final version passed was intended to stop a specific person from digging a large grouping of mounds on private property in Southern Indiana. It really was destructive and there were ample pictures circulated showing human remains and broken relics in piles.

The wording was intended to be burial sites, meaning burial mounds, but since that was too specific they included archaeological sites with no further clarification. An archaeological site, if they want to find you guilty, is just about any place in Indiana where you can find relics.

I don't necessarily agree with what Art Gerber did with the GE mound (not the mound the law was based on), but I always found it amazing that knowingly bulldozing through the mound wasn't the illegal part, stopping to pick up the relics was, and then digging out other artifacts really was...

[drdave514]

I'd go straight to the land owner and say "it's ok with Jack if it's ok with you?" and go from there. Leaving out the rest.