The following words and terms, when used in this chapter and the Antiquities Code of Texas, shall have the following meanings unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.
  (1) Accession--means the formal acceptance of a collection and its recording into the holdings of a curatorial facility and generally includes a transfer of title. For held-in-trust collections, stewardship but not title is transferred to the curatorial facility.
  (2) Accessions inventory--means an inventory conducted at the time of accessioning when a collection or historical item is placed at the designated curatorial facility. It is similar to a baseline inventory in that it is comprised of the categories represented in the collection, quantities, and linear feet of documentation as appropriate.
  (3) Antiquities--means the tangible aspects of the past, which relate to human life and culture. Some examples include objects, written histories, architecture, cultural traditions and patterns, art forms, and technologies.
  (4) Artifact--means an object that has been removed from an archeological site.
  (5) Baseline inventory--means the most basic inventory done by summary count within general categories (similar to an entry or accessions inventory).
  (6) Cataloging--means assigning an object to an established classification system and having a record containing identification, provenience, accession and catalog numbers, and location of that object in the collection storage area.
  (7) Certification--means a process through which a curatorial facility establishes that it has achieved certain standards and follows acceptable practices with respect to its collections.
  (8) Certified curatorial facility--means a museum or repository that has been certified by the Commission for the purposes of curating state-associated collections.
  (9) Collection--means an associated set of objects, samples, records, or documents or an associated set of documents only.
  (10) Commission--means the Texas Historical Commission and its staff.
  (11) Conservation--means scientific laboratory process for cleaning, stabilizing, restoring, and preserving artifacts.
  (12) Conservation Survey--means inspection and documentation by facility staff, of condition of collection objects on an ongoing basis as part of routine collections management work.
  (13) Cultural resource--means any building, site, district, structure, object, historic shipwreck, data, and locations of historical, archeological, educational, or scientific interest, including, but not limited to, prehistoric and historic Native American or aboriginal campsites, dwellings, and habitation sites, archeological sites of every character, treasure embedded in the earth, sunken or abandoned ships and wrecks of the sea or any part of the contents thereof, maps, records, documents, books, artifacts, and implements of culture in any way related to the inhabitants' prehistory, history, natural history, government, or culture. Examples of cultural resources include Native American mounds and campgrounds, aboriginal lithic resource areas, early industrial and engineering sites, rock art, early cottage, and craft industry sites, bison kill sites, cemeteries, battlegrounds, all manner of historical structures, local historical records, etc.
  (14) Curatorial facility--means a museum or repository that professionally manages collections on a long term basis.
  (15) Deaccession--means the permanent removal of an object or collection from the holdings of a curatorial facility.
  (16) Designated curatorial facility--means any curatorial facility that is holding or seeking to hold any state associated collection on behalf of the Commission.
  (17) Destructive analysis--means destroying all or a portion of an object or sample to gain specialized information. For purposes of these rules, it does not include analysis of objects or samples prior to their being accessioned by a curatorial facility.
  (18) Disposal--means the discard of an object or sample after being recovered and prior to accession, or after deaccession.
  (19) Held-in-trust agreement--means the document signed by the Commission and the designated curatorial facility that provides for the transfer of stewardship to the curatorial facility for the state-associated collection, provides the state-associated collection's accession number and accessions inventory, and notes any conditions or restrictions.
  (20) Held-in-trust collection--means those state-associated collections under the authority of the Texas Historical Commission that are placed in a curatorial facility for care and management; stewardship is transferred to that curatorial facility but not ownership.
  (21) Inventory--means a physically-checked, itemized list of the objects in a curatorial facility's holdings. Itemized refers to having some sort of categorization, whether it be object-by-object or some type of grouping. Inventory is usually performed by numerical count, but weight may be considered in addition to or instead of a count, where it may be appropriate.
  (22) Museum--means a legally organized not-for-profit institution, essentially educational in nature; having a formally stated mission; with a professionally trained staff that uses and interprets objects for the public through regularly scheduled programs and exhibits; with a program of documentation, care, and use of collection or tangible objects; and having a program of maintenance and presentation of exhibits.
  (23) Political subdivision--means a local government entity created and operating under the laws of this state, including a city, county, school district, or special district created under the Texas Constitution, Article III, Section 52(b)(1) or (2), or Article XVI, Section 59.
  (24) Preventive conservation--means to maintain the collections in stable condition through preventive maintenance, condition surveys, environmental controls, and pest management.
  (25) Public lands--means non-federal public lands that are owned or controlled by the State of Texas or any of its political subdivisions, including the tidelands, submerged land, and the bed of the sea within the jurisdiction of the State of Texas.
  (26) Relocation inventory--means a physically-checked, itemized list of a specific subset of objects that have been moved from their permanent location within the holdings of the curatorial facility.
  (27) Repository--means a permanent, not-for-profit educational or research-oriented agency or institution, having a professionally trained staff, that provides in-perpetuity legal housing and curation of collections.
  (28) Significance--means a trait attributable to sites, buildings, structures and objects of historical, architectural, and archeological (cultural) value which are eligible for designation to State Antiquities Landmark status and protection under the Antiquities Code of Texas. Similarly, a trait attributable to properties included in or determined eligible for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places.
  (29) Site--means any place or location containing physical evidence of human activity. Examples of sites include: the location of prehistoric or historic occupations or activities, a group or district of buildings or structures that share a common historical context or period of significance, and designed landscapes such as parks and gardens.
  (30) Spot-check inventory--means an organized location search to produce a physically-checked, itemized list of a predetermined subset of objects for which the curatorial facility is responsible.
  (31) State-associated collections--means the collections owned by the State and under the authority of the Texas Historical Commission. This includes the following:
    (A) Permitted collections--means collections that are the result of work governed by the Texas Antiquities Code of Texas on land or under waters belonging to the State of Texas or any political subdivision of the State requiring the issuance of a permit by the Commission.
    (B) Non-permitted collections--means collections that are the result of work governed by the Antiquities Code on land or under waters belonging to the State of Texas or any political subdivision of the State conducted by Commission personnel without the issuance of a permit.
    (C) Purchased collections--means collections that are the result of the acquisition of significant historical items by the Commission through Texas Historical Artifacts Acquisition Program or use of other State funds.
    (D) Donated collections--means collections that are the result of a gift, donation, or bequest to the Commission.
    (E) Court-action collections--means collections that are awarded to the Commission by a court through confiscation of illegally-obtained archeological artifacts or any other material that may be awarded to the Commission by a court of law.
  (32) State Antiquities Landmark--means an archeological site, archeological collection, ruin, building, structure, cultural landscape, site, engineering feature, monument or other object, or district that is eligible to be designated as a landmark or is already officially designated as a landmark.

Source Note: The provisions of this §29.4 adopted to be effective November 18, 2003, 28 TexReg 10203; amended to be effective February 21, 2007, 32 TexReg 620; amended to be effective August 16, 2016, 41 TexReg 5997