What should I do if I discover cultural properties buried underground by chance?

• If you chance upon some ancient ceramics during plowing or discover some buried cultural properties while digging up the ground to build your house, you should immediately stop all the work and preserve the area’s current condition, being careful not to make any change to its topographical features. Then, you should make a report to a nearby public office (the department in charge of cultural heritage at the local government or local police station concerned) about the properties you found.
• The public officials will deal with the reported properties in accordance with the procedure specified in the Cultural Heritage Protection Act and notify the results to the finder/reporter.
• Compensation will be paid to the finder/reporter after evaluation of the value of such properties, and any person who does not report them will be punished for concealment.
• Discovery is defined as accidently finding an item of cultural heritage revealed, while deliberately digging up a buried item for which to report falls under theft.