Die Wissenschaft und ihre Lehre ist frei Article 17 of Austrian Staatsgrundgesetz determines that the right to carry out academic research is a fundamental freedom of every citizen. And archaeology, in Austria, is still mainly understood as an academic discipline and not as a profession. Thus, there neither is a professional association of Austrian archaeologists, nor a register of (professional) archaeologists. Not even the term ‘archaeologist’ is defined: anyone who does archaeological research can refer to himself by this term. The only limitation where archaeological practice is concerned, established in § 11 Abs. 1 Denkmalschutzgesetz, restricts the right to apply for permits for (but not the right to conduct) archaeological fieldwork. This right is restricted to individuals who have completed an academic degree (at Master’s level) in a relevant subject, and is normally understood to apply to any kind of archaeological fieldwork in situ, though possibly (if adhering to the letter of the law), this restriction may apply only to fieldwork in situ on scheduled monuments. This limits the opportunities even for professional self-regulation, let alone for any kind of ‘official’ regulation of archaeology as a profession.