Artifact ruling described as setback

MONDAY, JANUARY 21, 2002

A December 2000 ruling by a federal appeals court affecting protection of Native artifacts is being described as a setback by federal officials and Alaska Natives.

Ian Lynch, a 27-year-old man who called himself "Indiana Jones type" and a "treasure hunter," was sentenced for taking a 1,400-year-old skull from a Tlingit village. But it was only a misdemeanor and not a federal crime as authorities had sought under the Archaeological Resource Protection Act (ARPA).

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Lynch did not knowingly violate the law by removing the skull, which was later repatriated to the Tlingit Tribe. As a result of the decision, federal officials say they have dropped cases against gravehunters and artifact disturbers.

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