Heritage or county municipality (mainly through the Planning and Building Act). History In 1897, the first bill on the preservation of memorials from the past was submitted to the Norwegian Parliament, and in 1905 the "Law on Protection and Preservation of Ancient Monuments" was adopted. The law gave automatic protection to all cultural relics from the time before the Norwegian Reformation in 1537, and it safeguarded antiquities and prehistoric artifacts by regulating who was allowed to excavate artifacts and who had ownership of antiquities. The national archaeological museums took responsibility for managing archaeological monuments and sites. Previously such heritage was under private ownership, and a large number of graves were excavated or removed by amateurs. This had resulted in a period of destruction of a number of ancient monuments, and antiquities were sold both in Norway and abroad. This led some politicians and professionals to see the importance of statutory protection of historical monuments. In 1927 a law was adopted to preserve buildings and structures over 100 years old or that were of particular historical interest to the country. These protection provisions were then combined in an act of June 29, 1951 on historical artifacts and accounted for along with the original law from 1905 in the new "Law on Historical Artifacts." The law was later replaced by the Cultural Heritage Act of June 9, 1978. This was later amended in 1992, 2000, 2001, 2004, and 2009. References Further reading Østmo, Einar & Lotte Hedeager (eds.). 2005. Norsk arkeologisk leksikon. Oslo: Pax. . Handlingsprogram for kulturminnepolitikk. 2009. Steinkjer: Nord-Trøndelag fylkeskommune. External links Cultural Heritage Act at Lovdata Law of Norway Architectural conservation 1978 in law