The Legislation on the Archaeological Cultural Heritage in the United Kingdom

The paper presents the legislation concerning archaeological heritage in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. A brief historical overview of the adoption of important national legislation is given. The understanding of a social climate that determines value is vital for the adoption of specific legislation: specific society valued something as cultural heritage and something else as rubbish. The main concepts, categories and organization of the protection of cultural heritage are defined. The detectorists, which have been present in the United Kingdom for over 50 years, are becoming more and more aggressive. The goal of the article is to present the British "archaeological” legislation to the Slovenian legal scholars in order to raise some questions and offer possible solutions de lege lata and de lege ferenda.

Keywords: legislation, cultural heritage, archaeology, detectorists, protection, valuation, rubbish theory, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.