ABSTRACT

The Historic Preservation Act and the Antiquities Act of Rhode Island, enacted in 1974, require the RIHPHC to review archaeological research plans and to issue archaeological permits, following a rigorous set of professional standards, for projects conducted on public lands, under water, and for state or federal actions (RIHPHC 1991, 1994). Unlike the federal legislation, the state Antiquities Act has never been amended to include protection of sites not yet determined eligible or listed on the National Register of Historic Places. This weakness in the state legislation, which limits state review to projects that are state funded or that involve properties already listed on the State Register of Historic Places, heightens the importance of the federal programme in Rhode Island.