Florida: artifacts

Private land: Chapter 267 does not regulate collecting on private land; the Florida Public Archaeology Network states collecting is permitted with the property owner's authorization. Unmarked burials remain protected on all land. (Fla. Stat. § 267.13 (scope limited to state/water-authority lands and landmarks).) The landowner's permission is the baseline everywhere; Florida's statute says how it must be given.

State land — Permit required: Conducting field investigations on, or removing, defacing or excavating archaeological sites or specimens on land owned or controlled by the state (or a water authority, or a designated state archaeological landmark) without a permit from the Division of Historical Resources is prohibited; non-excavation violations are first-degree misdemeanors and excavation violations are third-degree felonies with forfeiture of finds and equipment. (Fla. Stat. § 267.13(1)(a)-(b).) ARPA §470ee(c) makes the interstate sale of anything taken against state law a federal offence, so a dealer in another state is bound by this rule too.

Navigable waters and submerged lands — State property: Artifacts on state sovereignty submerged lands (river bottoms, lake beds, coastal bottoms) are treated as state-owned; salvage requires Division authorization and the statute provides administrative fines of up to $500 per day for unauthorized salvage. Section 267.115(9) still authorizes an Isolated Finds program for river-bottom artifacts, but the Division discontinued that program (FPAN reports it ended for non-compliance), so river collecting is currently not authorized. (Fla. Stat. § 267.13(2)(a); Fla. Stat. § 267.115(9).)

Burials: Willfully and knowingly disturbing, destroying, removing, vandalizing or damaging an unmarked human burial on public or private land is a third-degree felony; failing to report a known disturbance is a second-degree misdemeanor. When the Division takes jurisdiction, remains and associated artifacts vest in the state. (Fla. Stat. § 872.05.) Funerary objects are also NAGPRA cultural items under federal law and cannot be sold at all.

Sale: Offering for sale or exchange any object with knowledge that it was collected or excavated in violation of ch. 267, or procuring another person to sell, purchase, exchange, transport or receive such an archaeological resource, is a third-degree felony. (Fla. Stat. § 267.13(1)(c).)

This article is generated from Stratum's state table as of 2026-09-20, from the statute pages listed below. It states the rule as written; it is not legal advice. Verify locally before relying on a permit route, and treat any penalty figure as a spot-check item.