On state park land
Permission needed
Only at a protected site – and to be one, a site must be on the National Register and physically signposted. Ground with no sign on it is not a protected site, whoever owns it.
This state also reaches city and county land — see below
1. The rule, in full
Maine – 27 M.R.S. chapter 13
Read from the consolidated chapter PDF at legislature.maine.gov (Office of the Revisor of Statutes), parsed locally.
Operative text, 27 M.R.S. 375(1):
"'Unlawful excavation' means unauthorized excavation at a protected site, unless: A. A demonstrable emergency situation existed relating to the survival of the protected site; and B. An excavation permit is immediately applied for in accordance with section 374."
Penalty, 375(2): "A violation of this chapter is a Class E crime for which a fine of not less than $250 must be adjudged. The unlawful excavation for any one day constitutes a separate violation." The court may also order payment of the cost of a proper archaeological excavation.
Everything turns on "protected site", 373-A(7-A):
"'Protected site' means a site that is: A. On or under state-controlled land and is: (1) Listed in the National Register of Historic Places or judged eligible … and (2) Posted; B. The subject of a preservation agreement between the landowner or landowners and the Maine Historic Preservation Commission pursuant to Title 33, section 1551 and is: (1) Listed in the National Register of Historic Places; and (2) Posted; or C. Subject to section 378." [emergency designation]
"State-controlled land", 373-A(10): "any land or water area owned in fee simple by the State, with the exception of those lands contained within Baxter State Park."
How Maine can reach municipal land, and why it is not the same as Massachusetts. "Landowner" is defined at 373-A(3-A) to include "a municipality, county or other political subdivision of the State". That definition only does work through limb B – a preservation agreement, which the municipality enters voluntarily. Maine does not reach municipal land by force of the statute; it reaches municipal land the city has signed up.
And in every limb the site must be POSTED. Posting is an element of the definition, not a courtesy. That makes Maine the one state in the project whose rule is self-announcing: a detectorist standing on ground with no sign is not standing on a protected site, whoever owns it.
That is the entry, and it is genuinely reassuring in a way almost nothing else in this project is. It should be stated plainly rather than hedged.
Two more provisions for the page:
- 376(2): selling or offering to sell artifacts excavated from a protected
site after the Act's effective date – "whether excavated lawfully or unlawfully" – without written permission carries a civil penalty of up to twice the sale price.
- 376(1): artifacts from a protected site on state-controlled land may not
leave Maine permanently without the permittors' written permission.
Maine is not in the New England definitional family either. Its operative term is "excavation", defined at 373-A(3) as "any turning over, removal or disturbance of the soil, artifact in the soil or ground matrix", expressly including "purposeful looting". That is a find/site formulation. Like Connecticut, Maine sits outside the intent-based group its neighbours share.
Source: legislature.maine.gov Title 27 chapter 13 PDF, sections 373-A, 374, 375, 376 and 378, parsed locally. Checked 20 Sep 2026.
2. Cities in Maine that publish a rule
Awaiting review. None of the city or county rows publishes until its status is set and its quotation chosen by hand.
3. County rules
Awaiting review. None of the city or county rows publishes until its status is set and its quotation chosen by hand.
4. Cities checked — no published rule
Awaiting review. None of the city or county rows publishes until its status is set and its quotation chosen by hand.