Approaches on the Archaeological Heritage and its Impact on the Legal System of South American Countries

Abstract

An analysis of the legislation applied to the archaeological heritage in South American countries allows to recognize common characteristics and identify the alternation of certain views and approaches that have marked a trend in different periods of time. In chronological order, it is possible to distinguish three Models of Archaeological Heritage Protection, named Traditional, Transitional and Tendential, which have been predominant in the legal systems of the South American countries. The objective of this paper is to characterize these models and exemplify them with the legal regulations of the main countries in the region, and then discuss current trends and future prospects. Some legal provisions of Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela will be taken in consideration. In order to carry out this research, an analysis of the legal sources available in digital repositories and specialized bibliography was carried out. As a result of this study, the current survival of the Traditional Model with thematic additions typical of later models stands out, as well as the increasing complexity that indigenous issue bring to the management -if not to the property itself- of the archaeological heritage, while community participation is still a goal to be achieved.