Definitions.

In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires-

1. (a) "Ancient monument" means any building, structure, erection, monolith or monument or any mound or tumulus or any tomb or place or interment or any cave or any sculpture or inscription on an immovable object which is of historical, archaeological or artistic interest and which has been in existence for not less than fifty years, and includes-
   • (i) the remains of such monument,
   • (ii) the site of such monument,
   • (iii) such portion of land adjoining the site of such monument as may be required for fencing or covering in or otherwise preserving the monument, and
   • (iv) the means of access to, and convenient inspection of, such monument.
2. (b) "antiquity" includes-
   • (i) any coin, sculpture, manuscript, epigraph, or other work of art or craftsmanship,
   • (ii) any article object or thing detached from a building or cave,
   • (iii) any article, object or thing illustrative of science, art, crafts, literature, religion, customers, morals or politics in bygone ages,
   • (iv) any article, object or thing of historical interest, and
   • (v) any article, object or thing which in the opinion of the State Government because of its historical or archaeological importance is an article, object or thing which it is desirable to preserve declared by the State Government, by notification, to be an antiquity for the purposes of this Act. which has been in existence for not less than fifty years;
3. (c) "Archaeological site and remains" means any area which contains or is reasonably believed to contain ruins or relics of historical or archaeological importance which have been in existence for not less than fifty years, and includes-
   • (i) such portion of land adjoining the area as may be required for fencing or covering in or otherwise preserving it, and
   • (ii) the means of access to, and convenient inspection of the area;
4. (d) "Director" means the Director of Archaeology, Madhya Pradesh, and includes any officer authorised by the State Government to perform the duties of the Director of Archaeology under this Act;
5. (e) "Maintain" with its grammatical variations and cognate expressions includes the fencing, covering in, repairing, restoring and cleaning of a State protected monument and the doing of any act which may be necessary for the purpose of maintaining a State protected monument or of securing convenient access thereto;
6. (f) "owner" includes-
   • (i) a joint owner invested with powers of management on behalf of himself and other joint owners and the successors in title of any such owner, and
   • (ii) any manager or trustee exercising powers of management and the successor in office of any such manager or trustee,
7. (g) "State protected area" means any archaeological site and remains which is declared to be a State-protected area under this act.
8. (h) "Sate protected monument" means an ancient monument which is declared to be a State protected monument under this Act.