Mississippi Administrative Code
Title 16 - History, Humanities and Arts
Part 3 - Historic Preservation Division
Chapter 12 - Mississippi Standards and Guidelines for Archaeological Investigations
Rule 16-3-12.3 - Evaluating Site Significance
Current through September 24, 2024
National Register Criteria
In order for proper NRHP eligibility determinations to be made, a site must first be placed within the proper context. A site must also be addressed at the national, regional, and local levels for NRHP eligibility. Archaeological sites are most often addressed for their eligibility under Criterion D. However, sites can be eligible under all Criteria of the NRHP. Therefore, when addressing an archaeological site's eligibility to the NRHP, be sure to address Criteria A-D. An important thing to keep in mind is that integrity is a consideration and is not Criterion D. In addition to archaeological data and contexts, a community's opinion about a historic site's significance sometimes warrants consideration in discerning NRHP eligibility. (See NRHP Bulletins for more information).
Archaeological investigations conducted under federal and regulatory requirements seek to identify "significant" archaeological sites. A significant site meets the criteria for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places or Mississippi Landmark status. Both use the National Register criteria for evaluating significance.
The National Register criteria are:
Criterion A: Sites that are associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of our history.
Criterion B: Sites that are associated with the lives of persons significant in our past.
Criterion C: Sites that embody the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction, or that represent work of a master, or that possess high artistic values, or that represent a significant and distinguishable entity whose components may lack individual distinction.
Criterion D: Sites that have yielded, or may be likely to yield, information important in prehistory or history.
In addition to these criteria, the NHPA also contains seven Criteria Considerations ( 36 CFR 60.4) that may render a property eligible that is ordinarily considered ineligible for the NRHP. They are:
A. A religious property deriving primary significance from architectural or artistic distinction or historical importance; or
B. A building or structure removed from its original location but which is significant primarily for architectural value, or which is the surviving structure most importantly associated with a historic person or event; or
C. A birthplace or grave of a historical figure of outstanding importance if there is no appropriate site or building directly associated with his productive life.
D. A cemetery which derives its primary significance from graves of persons of transcendent importance, from age, from distinctive design features, or from association with historic events; or
E. A reconstructed building when accurately executed in a suitable environment and presented in a dignified manner as part of a restoration master plan, and when no other building or structure with the same association has survived; or
F. A property primarily commemorative in intent if design, age, tradition, or symbolic value has invested it with its own exceptional significance; or
G. A property achieving significance within the past 50 years if it is of exceptional importance.
36CFR 60
