The Indian Treasure Trove Act of 1878 is understood as a landmark legislative victory in the preservation of South Asian material pasts. This paper presents a detailed archival history recounting how archaeologists themselves were crucial to the promulgation of the Act and the authors of its specific provisions. It demonstrates how arguments for the reform of royal prerogative into an instrument for the discipline were born in mid-nineteenth-century British debates, where archaeologists’ attempts for a similar statutory change in property laws had been frustrated. Centuries-long tensions in common law definitions and their governance of treasure are demonstrated to be crucial to how we may better understand the new ‘policy’ of the colonial law and its operation. To do so, the paper reviews select cases and presents an evaluation of the archaeological justice of the rule of this law. It asks why our critical historiography has remained insensible to the victims of this law — archaeology’s counter-publics — who have been routinely incarcerated and punished in the name of the greater archaeological common good. Through these examinations, the paper reflects upon the enduring sensibilities and commitments that are involved in continuing to take treasures from others.

中文翻译：

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取自他人：考古学家为宝库立法辩护的历史与感性

1878 年的印度宝藏法案被认为是保护南亚物质历史的里程碑式的立法胜利。本文介绍了详细的档案历史，讲述了考古学家本身如何对颁布该法案及其具体条款的作者至关重要。它展示了将王室特权改革为学科工具的论点是如何在 19 世纪中叶的英国辩论中产生的，考古学家在那里试图对财产法进行类似的法定变更的尝试遭到了挫败。事实证明，在普通法定义及其对财富的治理中长达数百年的紧张局势对于我们如何更好地理解殖民法律及其运作的新“政策”至关重要。为此，论文回顾了一些案例，并对法治的考古正义进行了评估。它问为什么我们的批判史学对这项法律的受害者——考古学的反公众——一直以更大的考古学共同利益的名义经常被监禁和惩罚。通过这些检查，本文反思了继续从他人那里获取财富所涉及的持久敏感性和承诺。