Excavation Permit

(in Russian, otkrytyi list), a document giving the right to search for and excavate archaeological sites in the USSR. In prerevolutionary Russia, excavation permits were issued by the Archaeological Commission in St. Petersburg. After the October Revolution of 1917, they were issued in Moscow by the Central Scientific Administration of the People’s Commissariat of Education of the RSFSR. According to the Oct. 14, 1948, decree of the Council of Ministers of the USSR entitled Measures to Improve the Preservation of Cultural Monuments, an excavation permit in the RSFSR may be issued by the Academy of Sciences of the USSR (Institute of Archaeology). In the Union republics it may be issued by the republic academies of sciences or by other scientific institutions. The permits, which are valid for one year, are issued only to persons who have received special practical training for conducting independent field archaeological investigations. Scientific reports on all work must be submitted. Unauthorized digging at archaeological sites in the USSR is prohibited.