Emergency Import Restrictions Imposed on Archaeological and Ethnological Material of Afghanistan
| Citation | 87 FR 9439 |
| Published date | 22 February 2022 |
| Record Number | 2022-03663 |
| Section | Rules and Regulations |
| Court | Treasury Department |
Federal Register, Volume 87 Issue 35 (Tuesday, February 22, 2022)
[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 35 (Tuesday, February 22, 2022)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 9439-9445]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-03663]
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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
U.S. Customs and Border Protection
DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
19 CFR Part 12
[CBP Dec. 22-04]
RIN 1515-AE72
Emergency Import Restrictions Imposed on Archaeological and
Ethnological Material of Afghanistan
AGENCY: U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Department of Homeland
Security; Department of the Treasury.
ACTION: Final rule.
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SUMMARY: This document amends the U.S. Customs and Border Protection
(CBP) regulations to reflect the imposition of emergency import
restrictions on certain archaeological and ethnological material from
Afghanistan. The Acting Assistant Secretary for Educational and
Cultural Affairs, United States Department of State, determined that
conditions warrant the imposition of emergency restrictions on
categories of archaeological material and ethnological material of the
cultural heritage of Afghanistan. This document contains
[[Page 9440]]
the Designated List of Archaeological and Ethnological Material of
Afghanistan that describes the types of objects or categories of
archaeological and ethnological material to which the import
restrictions apply. The emergency import restrictions imposed on
certain archaeological and ethnological material of Afghanistan will be
in effect until April 28, 2026, unless extended. These restrictions are
being imposed pursuant to determinations of the United States
Department of State made under the terms of the Convention on Cultural
Property Implementation Act.
DATES: Effective on February 18, 2022.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For legal aspects, W. Richmond
Beevers, Chief, Cargo Security, Carriers and Restricted Merchandise
Branch, Regulations and Rulings, Office of Trade, (202) 325-0084, [email protected]. For operational aspects, Julie L.
Stoeber, Chief, 1USG Branch, Trade Policy and Programs, Office of
Trade, (202) 945-7064, [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The Convention on Cultural Property Implementation Act, Public Law
97-446, 19 U.S.C. 2601 et seq. (hereinafter, ``the Cultural Property
Implementation Act'' or ``Act''), implements the 1970 United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Convention
on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export
and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property (hereinafter, ``the
Convention'' (823 U.N.T.S. 231 (1972)). Pursuant to the Cultural
Property Implementation Act, the United States may enter into
international agreements with another State Party to the Convention to
impose import restrictions on eligible archaeological and ethnological
material under procedures and requirements prescribed by the Act. Under
certain limited circumstances, the Cultural Property Implementation Act
authorizes the imposition of import restrictions on an emergency basis
(19 U.S.C. 2603).
Pursuant to 19 U.S.C. 2602(a), on April 28, 2021, Afghanistan, a
State Party to the Convention, requested that import restrictions be
imposed on certain archaeological and ethnological material, the
pillage of which jeopardizes the cultural heritage of Afghanistan. The
Cultural Property Implementation Act authorizes the President (or
designee) to apply import restrictions on an emergency basis if the
President determines that an emergency condition applies with respect
to any archaeological or ethnological material of any requesting State
Party (19 U.S.C. 2603). The emergency restrictions are effective for no
more than five years from the date of the State Party's request and may
be extended for three years where it is determined that the emergency
condition continues to apply with respect to the covered material (19
U.S.C. 2603(c)(3)). These restrictions may also be continued pursuant
to an agreement concluded within the meaning of the Act (19 U.S.C.
2603(c)(4)).
On November 16, 2021, the Acting Assistant Secretary for
Educational and Cultural Affairs, United States Department of State,
after consultation with and recommendation by the Cultural Property
Advisory Committee, made the determinations necessary under the Act for
the emergency imposition of import restrictions on certain
archaeological material and ethnological material of the cultural
heritage of Afghanistan. The Designated List below sets forth the
categories of material to which the import restrictions apply. Thus,
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is amending Sec. 12.104g(b)
of title 19 of the Code of Federal Regulations (19 CFR 12.104g(b))
accordingly.
Importation of covered material from Afghanistan will be restricted
until April 28, 2026, unless the conditions set forth in 19 U.S.C. 2606
and 19 CFR 12.104c are met.
Designated List of Archaeological and Ethnological Material of
Afghanistan
The Designated List includes archaeological and ethnological
material sourced from Afghanistan. Archaeological material ranges in
date from the Paleolithic (50,000 B.C.) through the beginning of the
Durrani Dynasty (A.D. 1747). Ethnological material includes
architectural objects and wooden objects associated with Afghanistan's
diverse history, from the 9th century A.D. through A.D. 1920. The
Designated List set forth is representative only. Any dates and
dimensions are approximate. The list is inclusive of yet-to-be-
discovered styles and types.
Categories of Archaeological and Ethnological Material
I. Archaeological Material
A. Stone
B. Ceramics, Faience, and Fired Clay
C. Metal
D. Plaster, Stucco, and Unfired Clay
E. Painting
F. Ivory and Bone
G. Glass
H. Leather, Birch Bark, Vellum, Parchment, and Paper
I. Textiles
J. Wood, Shell, and other Organic Material
K. Human Remains
II. Ethnological Material
A. Stone, Brick, Plaster, and Stucco
B. Tiles
C. Stained Glass
D. Wood
Approximate simplified chronology of well-known periods:
(a) Paleolithic to Chalcolithic (c. 50,000-3000 B.C.)
(b) Bronze Age (3000-1000 B.C.)
(c) Achaemenid Period (c. 6th century-330 B.C.)
(d) Mauryan Empire (c. 304-232 B.C.)
(e) Hellenistic Empire and Greco-Bactrian Kingdom (330 B.C.-c.
A.D. 10)
(f) Kushan Empire (c. 2nd century B.C.-3rd century A.D.)
(g) Persian Sassanid Empire and Hepthalite Conquest (A.D. 224-
651)
(h) Gandharan Period (c. 300 B.C.-A.D. 1200)
(i) Ghaznavid Empire (A.D. 962-1186)
(j) Ghurid Empire (A.D. 1148-1202)
(k) Timurid and Mughal Empire (A.D. 1370-A.D. early 18th
century)
(l) Durrani Dynasty (A.D. 1747 \1\-1826)
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\1\ Note: Import restrictions concerning archaeological material
apply only to those objects dating to A.D. 1747 and earlier.
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(m) Dost Mohammed and Anglo-Afghan Wars (A.D. 1826-1880)
(n) Modern Afghanistan (A.D. 1880-Present) \2\
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\2\ Note: Import restrictions concerning ethnological material
apply only to those objects that are 100 years old or older.
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I. Archaeological Material
A. Stone
1. Architectural Elements--Primarily in alabaster, limestone,
marble, steatite schist and other types of stone. Category includes,
but is not limited to, bricks and blocks from walls, ceilings, and
floors; columns; door frames; false gables; friezes; lintels; mihrabs;
minarets; niches; pillars; plinths; qiblas; and so on. These
architectural elements may be plain, molded, carved, or inscribed in
various languages and scripts. Decorative elements on architectural
elements may be in high or low relief. Architectural elements may
include relief and inlay sculptures that were part of a building (e.g.,
mausoleums, mosques, minarets, palaces, religious structures, public
buildings, stupas, and others) such as friezes, panels, or stone
figures. Architectural elements may have religious imagery or have been
part of religious structures. For example, Gandharan and Kushan Period
styles may include images of the Buddha, scenes from the life of the
Buddha, Bodhisattvas, and other human figures, as well as animals,
columns, and floral, geometric, and/or vegetal motifs. Other examples
may include architectural
[[Page 9441]]
elements with images of Hindu deities and figures, or Zoroastrian
images. Architectural elements carved in stone from Islamic periods may
include inscriptions in multiple languages and scripts. Stone
architectural elements were common across many periods in Afghanistan's
history. Approximate date: 330 B.C.-A.D. 1747.
2. Non-Architectural Relief Sculpture--Primarily in alabaster,
limestone, marble, steatite schist, and other types of stone. Types
include, but are not limited to, carved bases, ceiling decoration,
funerary headstones and monuments, fountains, monoliths niches,
plaques, roundels, slabs, sundials, and stelae bases. Decorative
elements may be in high- or low-relief and may include animal and/or
human forms as well as floral, geometric, and/or vegetal motifs.
Includes edicts and rock pillars with inscriptions in low relief.
Inscriptions may be in multiple languages and scripts. Approximate
date: 330 B.C.-A.D. 1747.
3. Large Statuary--Primarily in grey schist, gypsum, and marble.
Statuary includes human figures, which are often seated or standing.
Heads and other figurative elements may be used in high- or low-relief
statues. Large statuary of human figures is primarily associated with
the Hellenistic Empire and Greco-Bactrian Kingdom through the Gandharan
Periods. Also includes statuary of Hindu deities, figures, and images,
often dated from the 7th century A.D. onward. Approximate date: 330
B.C.-A.D. 1200.
4. Small Statuary--Primarily in alabaster, calcite, chlorite,
dolomite, jasper, limestone, marble, and steatite; primarily free
standing; may have been shaped by carving, incision, grinding,
polishing, or other techniques. Animal and human forms tend to be
stylized. Includes game pieces. Small statuary is found throughout many
archaeological periods from the Bronze Age onward, but representative
styles are from the Bactrian and Sassanian periods. Approximate date:
2100 B.C.-A.D. 1200.
a. Bactrian figurative statuary is often made of more than one type
of stone, often chlorite or steatite, with limestone. Bactrian statues
are in anthropomorphic forms, primarily female, and are elaborately
carved and/or incised. Forms tend to be abstract and stylized, with
armless bodies and legs, and a small protruding head. Heads tend to be
small and carved in white limestone. Often in a seated or squatting
position. Zoomorphic forms are also included and are often in a
squatting or coiled position. Sizes vary, but are typically 14 cm tall.
Approximate date: 3rd-2nd millennium B.C.
b. Non-figurative Bactrian statuary includes types such as columns,
pillars, or column idols, and discs or disc idols. Column and disc
statues have a smooth finish. Columns may have an elongated and/or
tapered form with a wider base than at top. Column sizes vary, but
typically range from 28-40 cm high and 10-20 cm wide. Discs may have an
incision or groove through the center. Disc sizes vary, but typically
range from 20-30 cm wide. Approximate date: 3rd-2nd millennium B.C.
c. Sassanian statuary includes animal and human figures shaped by
carving, grinding, and/or polishing. Figures tend to be stylized. May
have been used for a variety of purposes including, small statuary
possibly used as gaming pieces. Approximate date: A.D. 200-700.
5. Vessels and Containers--Primarily in alabaster, chlorite,
porphyry, rock crystal, and steatite schist. Vessel types may be
conventional shapes such as amphora, bowls, cups, cylindrical vessels,
flacons, jars, jugs, lamps, platters, pyxides, flasks, and trays, and
may also include cosmetic containers, reliquaries (and their contents),
and incense burners. Some drinking vessels (rhytons) may be in the
shape of an animal or mythical creature carved into the ventral end.
Surfaces may have incised geometric or vegetal decoration, incised
script in multiple languages, and/or be polished. Some stone vessels
and containers have no surface decoration. Includes vessel lids.
6. Tools, Instruments, and Weights--Includes groundstone and flaked
stone tools.
a. Groundstone tools, instruments, and weights are mainly made from
diorite, granite, marble, limestone, or quartz, but other types of
stone are included. Types of groundstone tools include balls, batons,
maces, palates, pestles, scrapers, scepters, and others. Includes
spindle whorls and weights. Ends of batons and scepters may be carved
or shaped and are approximately 50 cm to 2 m in length. Stone weights
can be shaped or ground into various forms including balls, cubes,
handbags, pyramids, rings, or teardrop shapes; may be polished; and may
be decorated with incisions or inscriptions in multiple languages.
Stone weights typically vary from 20 to 30 cm. Stone tools used to
polish, shape, or sharpen other tools are included.
b. Flaked stone tools are primarily made of chert or other
cryptocrystalline silicates, flint, limestone, obsidian, quartzite,
schist, and others. Flaked stone tool types include axes, bifaces,
blades, choppers, cores, hammers, microliths, projectiles, scrapers,
sickles, unifaces, and others. Also includes tools like hammerstones
and anvils used to create flaked stone tools.
7. Beads and Jewelry--Primarily in agate, amber, carnelian,
cryptocrystalline silicates, garnet, lapis lazuli, onyx, turquoise,
quartz, or other semi-precious materials. Beads may be carved, cut,
drilled, ground, and/or polished. Beads include animal, conical,
cylindrical, disc, faceted, tear drop, spherical, and other shapes. May
be inscriptions in multiple types of languages and scripts. Jewelry
includes amulet, amulet cases, bracelets, necklaces, rings, and other
types.
8. Stamps and Seals--Primarily in agate, amethyst, chalcedony,
hematite, jasper, rock crystal, steatite, or other types of stone.
Stamps and seals may have engravings that include animals, human
figures, geometric designs, inscriptions in various languages and
scripts, and/or floral/vegetal motifs. Approximate date: 4th century
B.C.-A.D. 1500.
9. Furniture-- Primarily in agate, steatite, turquoise, or other
semi-precious stones. Includes furniture and furniture hardware such as
inlay, fragments of inlay, fasteners, handles, knobs, and roundels.
B. Ceramics, Faience, and Fired Clay
1. Statuary--Includes small and large-scale ceramic and terracotta
statuary. May be in animal, human, hybrid animal/human, and
mythological forms. Imagery may be religious. Objects may be associated
with religious activity, games, or toys. May have traces of paint or
pigment. Forms may be stylized or naturalized statuary depending on the
time period. Stylized forms are associated with the Neolithic and
Sassanian periods, while naturalized forms are associated with the
Greco-Bactrian and Gandharan period onward. Approximate date: 9000
B.C.--A.D. 1747.
2. Architectural Elements--Includes terracotta antefixes, niches,
panels, tiles, and other elements used as functional or decorative
elements in buildings and mosaics. Terracotta panels may be painted or
have traces of paint. Terracotta tiles may be painted or unpainted.
Mosaic designs often include animals, humans, floral, geometric, and/or
vegetal motifs. Tiles may be carved or have impressed or molded images
of animals, humans, floral, geometric, and/or vegetal motifs for
decorative relief. Imagery may be religious. Includes bricks, pipes,
and other architectural elements from archaeological contexts.
Approximate date: 330 B.C.-A.D. 1747.
3. Vessels--Includes utilitarian types, fine tableware, incense
burners, cosmetic containers, funerary urns,
[[Page 9442]]
lamps, and other ceramic objects of everyday use.
a. Neolithic--Includes earthenware vessels. Vessel types include
bowls, cups, goblets, jars, vases, and other forms. Often painted with
animal design; floral, geometric, and/or vegetal motifs (e.g., pipal
leaves). Approximate date: 9000-2400 B.C.
b. Bronze Age through pre-Islamic Periods--Includes earthenware
vessels that may have a pink, peach, orange, or grey core. Vessel types
include conventional shapes such as basins, beakers, bottles, bowls,
jars, pitchers, storage vessels, vases, as well other forms such as
cosmetic jars, lamps, stands, and table amphorae. Vessel forms may have
pedestalled bases and/or handles. Surface treatments may include slip,
painting, and/or burnishing/polishing. Decorative techniques include
incised and impressed decorations, including grooving, roulette,
stamping, and other techniques. Stamps used for decoration range from
simple geometric patterns to rosettes to elaborate scenes combining
animal, floral, geometric, and/or vegetal designs. Some vessels may
have elaborate shapes created using molds. High-relief surface
decorative techniques may include affixing molded animal heads or
rosettes to the exterior surface of a vessel. Examples include Greco-
Bactrian vessels that range from plain to having multiple types of
surface treatment and decorative techniques. Begram vessels may have
intricate human/animal hybrid shapes molded into the vessel exterior.
Some Sassanian vessel forms may have uniformly glazed ceramics in
green, blue-green, or yellow glazes, while utilitarian forms may be
unglazed. Includes lids of ceramic vessels. Approximate date: 3000
B.C.-A.D. 1000.
c. Islamic Periods--Includes earthenware vessels (often red and
buff) and porcelain. Vessel types may form conventional shapes such as
bowls, cups, ewers, flasks, jars, jugs, platters, trays, and other
types such as fire blowers (aeolipipes), incense burners, footed
vessels, and zoomorphic shapes. May be hand-built, molded, or wheel
thrown. Surface treatments may include slip, polishing, burnishing, and
others. Vessels may have slip and paint. Other decorative techniques
include incisions (sgraffito), often in floral, geometric, and/or
vegetal designs; and inscriptions in multiple languages and scripts.
Animal and human forms may be stylized. Vessels may have colorless
lead, monochrome, or polychrome glazing. Vessels may be colorful.
Common colors include green, yellow, blue, tomato red, purplish black,
turquoise, and white. Imported types include celadons and blue-and-
white porcelain from China; fritware, earthenware, and copies of
Chinese ceramics from Iran; and glazed ceramics from Uzbekistan.
Includes lids of ceramic vessels. Approximate date: A.D. 1000-1747.
4. Islamic Period Tiles--Includes glazed tiles and bricks used to
decorate civic and religious architecture. Tiles are mostly square, but
some are polygonal. Types may be molded and glazed in monochrome or
polychrome. Turquoise and manganese are commonly used for glazing. Some
tiles can be molded with decoration, with low- and high-relief
techniques. Decorative molding may be in floral, geometric, or vegetal
motifs; may have animal imagery. May have inscriptions in multiple
languages and scripts. Includes glazed bricks. Approximate date: A.D.
1000-1747
C. Metal--Includes copper, gold, silver, iron, electrum, and alloys
of copper, tin, lead, and zinc. Metal objects may have been created
using different techniques such as casting, chasing, gilding or
repouss[eacute]. Approximate date: 3000 B.C.-A.D. 1750.
1. Containers and Vessels--Vessel types may form conventional
shapes such as basins, bowls, cauldrons, cups, dishes, ewers, flacons,
jars, jugs, lamps, platters, stands, table ornaments, and utensils, and
also may be cosmetic containers, incense burners, medicine droppers,
reliquaries (and their contents), spouted vessels, and tripod stands.
Some drinking vessels (rhytons) may be in the shape of an animal or
mythical creature carved into the ventral end. Some styles may have
lids and/or handles. Metal containers may be cast and turned, chased,
engraved, gilt, and/or punched. Decorative styles include, but are not
limited to, animals, arabesque motifs, inscriptions in different
languages, floral motifs, geometric motifs, vegetal motifs. Some types
of containers and vessels, like reliquaries, may be inlaid with garnet,
lapis lazuli, pearl, turquoise, and/or other types of semi-precious
stone as well as other types of precious metals, including gold and
silver. Includes lids and handles of vessels.
2. Jewelry and Personal Adornment--Types include, but are not
limited to, amulets, amulet holders, bracelets, bracteates, belts,
brooches, buckles, buttons, charms, crowns, hair ornaments, hairpins,
mirrors, mirror handles, necklaces, ornaments, pectoral ornaments,
pendants, rings, rosettes, scale weights, staffs, and others. May be
highly decorative and include inlays of other types of ivory, bone,
animal teeth, metals, precious stones, or semi-precious stones.
Includes metal ornaments once attached to other types of textiles or
leather objects.
3. Tools and Instruments--Types include, but are not limited to,
axes, bells, blades, hooks, keys, knives, pins, projectiles, rakes,
sickles, spoons, staffs, trowels, weights, and tools of craftpersons
such as carpenters, masons, and metal smiths. Approximate date: 3000
B.C.-A.D. 1747.
4. Weapons and Armor--Includes body armor, such as helmets, shin
guards, shields, horse armor and horse bits. Launching weapons (spears
and javelins); hand-to-hand combat weapons (swords, daggers); and
sheaths. Some weapons may be highly decorative and include inlays of
other types of metals, precious stones, or semi-precious stones in the
sheaths and hilts. Approximate date: 330 B.C.-A.D. 1747.
5. Coins-- Ancient coins include gold, silver, copper, and bronze
coins; may be hand stamped with units ranging from tetradrachms to
dinars; includes gold bun ingots and silver ingots, which may be plain
and/or inscribed. Some of the most well-known types are described
below:
a. The earliest coins in Afghanistan are Greek silver coins,
including tetradrachms and drachmae. Approximate date: 530-333 B.C.
b. During the reign of Darius I, gold staters and silver sigloi
were produced in Bactria and Gandhara. Approximate date: 586-550 B.C.
c. Achaemenid coins include round punch-marked coins with one or
two punched holes and bent bar coins (shatamana). Approximate date: 5th
century B.C.
d. Gandhara coins include janapadas, bent bar coins based on the
silver sigloi weight. Approximate date: 4th century B.C.
e. Mauryan coins include silver karshapanas with five punches, six
arm designs, and/or sun symbols. Weights ranged from 5.5 to 7.2 gm.
Approximate date: 322-185 B.C.
f. Gold staters and silver tetradrachms were produced locally after
Alexander the Great conquered the region. Approximate date: 327-323
B.C.
g. Greco-Bactrian coins include gold staters, silver tetradrachms,
silver and bronze drachms, and a small number of punch-marked coins.
The bust of the king with his name written in Greek and Prakit were on
the obverse, and Greek deities and images of Buddha were on the
reverse. Approximate date: 250-125 B.C.
h. Common Roman Imperial coins found in archaeological contexts in
Afghanistan were struck in silver and
[[Page 9443]]
bronze. Approximate date: 1st century B.C.-4th century A.D.
i. Kushan Dynasty coins include silver tetradrachms, copper coin
(Augustus type), bronze diadrachms and gold dinars. Imagery includes
portrait busts of each king with his emblem (tamgha) on both sides.
Classical Greek and Zoroastrian deities and images of the Buddha are
depicted on the reverse. Approximate date: A.D. 19-230.
j. Sassanian coins include silver drachms, silver half drachms,
obols (dang), copper drahms and gold dinars, and gold coins of Shapur
II (A.D. 309-379). Starting with Peroz I, mint indication was included
on the coins. Sassanian coins may include imagery of Zoroastrian Fire
Temples. Approximate date: A.D. 224-651.
k. Hephthalite coins include silver drachms, silver dinars, and
small copper and bronze coins. The designs were the same as Sassanian,
but they did not put the rulers' names on the coins. Hephthalite coins
may include imagery of Zoroastrian Fire Temples. Approximate date: 5th-
8th centuries A.D.
l. Turk Shahis coins include silver and copper drachma with
portraits of the rulers wearing a distinctive triple crescent crown.
The emblems of these Buddhist Turks were also included on the coin.
Inscriptions were in Bactrian. Approximate date: A.D. 665-850.
m. Shahiya or Shahis of Kabul coins include silver, bronze, and
copper drachma with inscriptions of military and chief commanders.
Hindu imagery is included on the coin design. The two main types of
images are the bull and horseman and the elephant and lion. Approximate
date: A.D. 565-879.
n. Chinese coins belonging primarily to the Tang Dynasty are found
in archaeological contexts in Afghanistan. Approximate date: A.D. 618-
907.
o. Ghaznavid coins include gold dinars with bilingual inscriptions,
Islamic titles in Arabic and Sharda and images of Shiva, Nandi, and
Samta Deva. Approximate date: A.D. 977-1186.
p. Ghurid coins include silver and gold tangas with inscriptions
and abstract goddess iconography. Approximate date: A.D. 879-1215.
q. Timurid coins include silver and copper tangas and copper
dinars, both coin types are decorated with Arabic inscriptions.
Approximate date: A.D. 1370 -1507.
r. Mughal coins include shahrukhi, gold mithqal, gold mohur, silver
rupee, copper dams, and copper falus. The iconography varies, depending
on the ruler, but popular designs include images of the Hindu deities
Sita and Ram, portrait busts of the rulers, and the twelve zodiac
signs. Approximate date: A.D. 1526-1857.
6. Ceremonial Objects--Includes highly decorative axes, staffs,
swords, and other types of implements. While the forms may be similar
to utilitarian objects, ceremonial objects are too decorative to have
been used as everyday tools. Approximate date: 3000 B.C.-A.D. 1747.
7. Statuary, Ornaments, and other Relief Sculpture--Primarily in
copper, gold, silver, bronze, or alloys of copper, tin lead, and zinc.
Includes free-standing or supported statuary; relief plaques or
tablets; votive ornaments; and other ornaments. Decoration may include
humans, animals, mythological figures (e.g., griffins or horned lions),
and/or scenes of activity. Plaques or tablets may have been cast,
chased, and/or embossed. Plaques and tablets may have inlay of other
types of material. Statuary includes objects fashioned as humans,
animals, or mythological figures; miniature chariots; wheeled carts;
and other types of objects. Decorative elements may include floral,
geometric, or vegetal motifs; inscriptions in multiple languages or
scripts. Statuary includes naturalized and stylized forms.
8. Stamps and Seals--Primarily in cast bronze, and alloys of
copper, tin, lead, and zinc; includes stamps and seals in gold or
silver. Types include amulets, rings, small devices with engraving on
one side, and others. Stamps and seals may have engravings that include
animals, human figures, geometric designs, inscriptions in various
languages and scripts, and/or floral/vegetal motifs. May have inlay of
other types of material. Approximate date: 4th century B.C.-A.D. 1500.
D. Plaster, Stucco, and Unfired Clay--Includes animal figures,
columns, human figures, reliefs, medallions, ornaments, panels,
plaques, roundels, window screens, and other architectural and non-
architectural decoration or sculpture. There may be traces of paint,
gilding, and/or inscriptions in multiple languages and scripts. Stucco
panels may have elaborate scenes of animals and human activity (such as
hunting or elite activity) and/or floral, geometric, and vegetal
patterns. Stucco panels may have been made with molds. Stucco figures
and objects may have strong resemblance to Hellenistic styles. Painted
clay objects are often represented as single individuals, such as a
Buddha, Bodhisattva, or a male or female patron of a religious complex.
Unfired clay roundels with stamped impressions used as sealing material
are included.
E. Painting--Includes wall painting and fragments, often having a
white base coat on ground clay mixed with small stones and vegetal
matter; color is often applied in thin pigments in primary colors;
figures are often outlined in black. Subjects vary, but images of
Buddha figures and mandalas are common.
F. Ivory and Bone
1. Non-Architectural Relief Panels and Plaques--Highly and
elaborately decorated and engraved panels and plaques with low- and
high-relief carvings. May include imagery of humans, animals, and human
activity; floral, geometric, and/or vegetal designs. Begram ivory
panels are a typical example. Approximate date: 1st century A.D.
2. Statuary--Includes carved animal and human figures. Floral,
geometric, and/or vegetal decorative elements may be part of the carved
design. May be in low- or high-relief. Begram Ivory figurines are an
example.
3. Containers, Handles, and other Non-Architectural Objects--
Includes buckles, buttons, combs, game die, handles on daggers,
mirrors, pins, and other personal objects.
4. Furniture--Includes arms, brackets, handles, finials,
footstools, and legs in chairs, chests, trunks, and other types of
furniture.
G. Glass
1. Architectural Elements--Mosaics and stained glass with various
designs and colors. May be part of large designs with floral,
geometric, and/or vegetal motifs; often with religious imagery.
Includes glass inlay used in architectural elements. Approximate date:
1st century A.D.-A.D. 1747.
2. Beads/Jewelry--Includes beads that may be cylindrical,
spherical, conical, disc, and others. Decorations may include bevels,
incisions, and/or raised decoration. Includes glass inlay used in other
types of beads and/or jewelry. Approximate date: 1st century A.D.-A.D.
1747.
3. Vessels--Vessel types may form conventional shapes such as
beakers, bowls, cups, dishes, flasks, goblets, jars, mugs, perfume
bottles, and vases, and other shapes such as cosmetic containers,
lamps, medicine droppers, and others. Flasks and drinking vessels may
be shaped as animals or fish. Some vessel types may have been blown
into molds. May have decorative elements of high-relief including
honeycomb patterns and waves. May be monochrome or polychrome. Some
polychrome glass vessels are elaborately colored and decorated with
animals, humans, human activity; floral, geometric, and vegetal
designs. Some
[[Page 9444]]
polychrome glass vessels may have been elaborately painted with scenes
of humans, animals, and/or scenes of human activity or have traces of
paint. Vessels created and molded using mosaic techniques are included.
Approximate date: 1st century A.D.-A.D. 1747.
4. Ornaments--Includes glass medallions. May have molded
decorations including, but not limited to, animals, humans, floral,
geometric, and vegetal motifs. Typically associated with the Ghaznavid
and Ghurid periods. Approximate date: A.D. 1000-1200.
H. Leather, Birch Bark, Velum, Parchment, and Paper
1. Books and Manuscripts--Includes scrolls, sheets, or bound
volumes. Includes secular and religious texts. Text may be written on
birch bark, velum, parchment, or paper, and may be gathered into
leather bindings or folios. Calligraphy is written in ink. Books and
manuscripts are written in multiple languages and scripts, but Arabic
and Persian are most common. Books and manuscripts may be further
embellished or decorated with colorful floral, geometric, or vegetal
motifs; images of animals; images of humans and human activity.
Decoration, embellishment, illumination, and/or painting may have been
added after the text was written. Occasionally, there are portraits or
illustrations of single figures. May be in miniature form. Timurid
period manuscript types are typically highly colorful with polychrome
decoration, embellishment, illumination, and/or painting. Approximate
date: 1st century A.D.-A.D. 1750.
2. Items of Personal Adornment--Primarily in leather, including
bracelets, belts, necklaces, sandals, shoes, and other types of
jewelry. May be embroidered or embellished with other types of
materials. Leather goods may have also been used in conjunction with
other types of textiles.
I. Textiles--Includes silk, linen, cotton, hemp, wool, damasee,
samit, other woven materials used in basketry and other household
goods; clothing, shoes, jewelry, and items of personal adornment;
burial shrouds; tent coverings and domestic textiles; carpets; and
others. Decorative techniques may include embroidery with various
motifs, including, but not limited to, animals, floral, geometric, and
vegetal motifs or textiles may be undecorated. May have patterns woven
into the body of the textile. Gold or silver threads may be woven into
other fabrics, for example in samit textiles. May have traces of paint.
Approximate date: 1st century A.D.-A.D. 1747.
J. Wood, Shell, and other Organic Material--Includes architectural
pieces made from wood; statuary and figurines; furniture; jewelry and
other items of personal adornment; musical instruments; vessels and
containers; and engraved stamps and seals from archaeological contexts.
K. Human Remains--Human remains and fragments of human remains,
including skeletal remains, soft tissue, and ash from the human body
that may be preserved in burial, reliquaries, and other contexts.
II. Ethnological Material
A. Stone, brick, plaster, and stucco--Primarily in brick, plaster,
stone (e.g., alabaster, limestone, marble, steatite schist), and
stucco. Includes structural elements such as bricks and blocks from
walls, ceilings, and floors; columns; door frames; false gables;
friezes; jalis; lintels; mihrabs; minarets; niches; pillars; plinths;
qiblas; and others. Also includes decorative elements such as carved
bases, ceiling decoration, funerary headstones and monuments,
fountains, monoliths, niches, plaques, roundels, slabs, and stelae
bases. May be plain, molded, carved, or inscribed in various languages
and scripts. Decorative elements may be in high- or low-relief.
Architectural elements may include relief and inlay sculptures that
were part of a building (e.g., mausoleums, mosques, minarets, palaces,
religious structures, public buildings, royal buildings, shrines,
stupas, and others), such as friezes, panels, or stone figures.
Architectural elements may have religious imagery or may have been part
of religious structures.
B. Tiles--Includes glazed tiles and glazed bricks used to decorate
civic and religious architecture. Tiles are mostly square, but some are
polygonal. Types may be molded and glazed in monochrome or polychrome.
Turquoise and manganese are commonly used for glazing. Some tiles can
be molded with decoration, with low- and high-relief techniques.
Decorative molding may be in floral, geometric, or vegetal motifs; may
have animal imagery. May have inscriptions in multiple languages and
scripts.
C. Stained Glass--Stained glass is glass that is colored and
arranged in various patterns, often with floral, geometric, and/or
vegetal designs. Wooden dividers may separate the panels of glass.
Often in the windows of religious buildings, including mosques.
D. Wood
1. Architectural elements--This type encompasses both structural
and decorative elements including walls, doors, door frames, posts,
lintels, jambs, finials, figural capitals, panels, veranda shutters,
window fittings, window frames, balconies, minbars, mihrabs, or pieces
of any of these objects. Architectural elements may be repurposed into
newer and different items, such as a wood panel into a table or a door
jamb into a bench. Well known examples are from the Nuristan region or
date to the Timurid and Mughal period.
2. Nuristani Figures--Includes life-sized and hand-held stylized
wooden figures of ancestors and deities. A small number are horse and
rider types. Many have sustained damage including small holes and
cracks, others may be partially defaced, and others may be cut in half
for ease of transport. Approximate date: A.D. 1400 -1920.
3. Musical Instruments--Type includes stringed and percussion
instruments associated with the Nuristani culture. Typically made in a
variety of materials including animal hair, animal hides, cloth, nylon,
and wood. Stringed instruments may have bows often crafted with
horsehair or silk; may have ivory inlay; may have tuning pegs.
Approximate date: A.D. 1400--1920.
References
Afghanistan: Hidden Treasures from the National Museum, Kabul, 2008,
edited by Frank Hiebert and Pierre Cambon, National Geographic,
Washington DC.
Afghanistan: Une Histoire Millenaire, 2002, Musee Guimet, Paris.
After Alexander: Central Asia Before Islam, 2007, Edited by Joe
Cribb and Georgina Herrmann, The British Academy by Oxford
University Press, Oxford.
Ancient Art from Afghanistan: Treasures of the Kabul Museum, 1966,
Benjamin Rowland Jr., Asia Society, New York.
Buddhist Art of Gandhara: In the Ashmolean Museum, 2018, David
Jongeward, Ashmolean Museum and University of Oxford, Oxford.
National Museum of Herat--Areia Antiqua Through Time, 2007, Ute
Frank, Deutsches Archaologisches Institut Berlin, Eurasien-
Abteilung.
The Monuments of Afghanistan: History, Archaeology, and
Architecture, 2008, Warwick Ball, I.B. Tauris & Co Ltd, New York.
Typology and Chronology of Ceramics of Bactria, Afghanistan 600 BCE-
500 CE, 2015, Charlotte Elizabeth Maxwell-Jones, University of
Michigan, Ann Arbor.
Inapplicability of Notice and Delayed Effective Date
This amendment involves a foreign affairs function of the United
States and is, therefore, being made without notice or public procedure
(5 U.S.C. 553(a)(1)). For the same reason, a delayed effective
[[Page 9445]]
date is not required under 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(3).
Regulatory Flexibility Act
Because no notice of proposed rulemaking is required, the
provisions of the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) do
not apply.
Executive Order 12866
CBP has determined that this document is not a regulation or rule
subject to the provisions of Executive Order 12866 because it pertains
to a foreign affairs function of the United States, as described above,
and therefore is specifically exempted by section 3(d)(2) of Executive
Order 12866.
Signing Authority
This regulation is being issued in accordance with 19 CFR 0.1(a)(1)
pertaining to the Secretary of the Treasury's authority (or that of
his/her delegate) to approve regulations related to customs revenue
functions.
Chris Magnus, the Commissioner of CBP, having reviewed and approved
this document, is delegating the authority to electronically sign this
document to Robert F. Altneu, who is the Director of the Regulations
and Disclosure Law Division for CBP, for purposes of publication in the
Federal Register.
List of Subjects in 19 CFR Part 12
Cultural property, Customs duties and inspection, Imports,
Prohibited merchandise, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.
Amendment to CBP Regulations
For the reasons set forth above, part 12 of title 19 of the Code of
Federal Regulations (19 CFR part 12), is amended as set forth below:
PART 12--SPECIAL CLASSES OF MERCHANDISE
0
1. The general authority citation for part 12 and the specific
authority for Sec. 12.104g continue to read as follows:
Authority: 5 U.S.C. 301; 19 U.S.C. 66, 1202 (General Note 3(i),
Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS)), 1624.
* * * * *
Sections 12.104 through 12.104i also issued under 19 U.S.C.
2612;
* * * * *
0
2. In Sec. 12.104g, the table in paragraph (b) is amended by adding
Afghanistan to the list in alphabetical order to read as follows:
Sec. 12.104g Specific items or categories designated by agreements or
emergency actions.
* * * * *
(b) * * *
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
State party Cultural property Decision No.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afghanistan............................. Archaeological and ethnological CBP Dec. 22-04.
material from Afghanistan.
* * * * * * *
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Robert F. Altneu,
Director, Regulations & Disclosure Law Division, Regulations & Rulings,
Office of Trade U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
Timothy E. Skud,
Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Treasury.
[FR Doc. 2022-03663 Filed 2-18-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 9111-14-P
