State site forms must be filled out and submitted to the Office of the State Archaeologist (OSA) for all sites located during licensed surveys in Minnesota. Professional archaeologists are also ethically obligated to fill out and submit site forms or otherwise report sites located outside of project boundaries based on first-hand knowledge or informant reports. Archaeologists involved with privately sponsored research also should share site information critical to improving locational models, promoting site preservation, and understanding the past.
If a development project is cancelled prior to the completion of an archaeological report, but after the initiation of archaeological field survey, the Principal Investigator should minimally submit inventory forms for any located sites and ideally submit some form of report describing the location and methods of the survey. OSA understands that legal contractual requirements occasionally restrict reporting options for a private development on private property, but if a state archaeological license has been issued, a condition of the license is to submit site forms and a report to the State Archaeologist regardless of the project status.
Site updates use the same form as the one used for reporting newly discovered sites. When submitting a site update, check the appropriate space near the top of the form's first page and make sure you fill in the existing site number.
Updates are required when significant new information has been obtained about a site that was previously assigned an official number. A site update should be completed anytime the following occurs:
In addition, an update could be done based on a literature search alone if significant information about a known site is discovered. In any case, specify why the update is being done on a Continuation Sheet under Additional Information.
