{{Evidence law An ancient document, in the

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

evidence Evidence for a proposition is what supports this proposition. It is usually understood as an indication that the supported proposition is true. What role evidence plays and how it is conceived varies from field to field. In epistemology, evidenc ...

, refers to both a means of authentication for a piece of

documentary evidence Documentary evidence is any evidence that is, or can be, introduced at a trial in the form of documents, as distinguished from oral testimony. Documentary evidence is most widely understood to refer to writings on paper (such as an invoice, a con ...

, and an exception to the

hearsay rule Hearsay evidence, in a legal forum, is testimony from an under-oath witness who is reciting an out-of-court statement, the content of which is being offered to prove the truth of the matter asserted. In most courts, hearsay evidence is inadmi ...

Authentication

With respect to authentication, an "ancient document" is one that may be deemed authentic without a

witness In law, a witness is someone who has knowledge about a matter, whether they have sensed it or are testifying on another witnesses' behalf. In law a witness is someone who, either voluntarily or under compulsion, provides testimonial evidence, e ...

to attest to the circumstances of its creation because its age suggests that it is unlikely to have been falsified in anticipation of the

litigation - A lawsuit is a proceeding by a party or parties against another in the civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. The term "lawsuit" is used in reference to a civil actio ...

in which it is introduced. Under the American

Federal Rules of Evidence First adopted in 1975, the Federal Rules of Evidence codify the evidence law that applies in United States federal courts. In addition, many states in the United States have either adopted the Federal Rules of Evidence, with or without local v ...

("FRE"), a document is deemed authentic if it is: #at least twenty years old; #in a condition that makes it free from suspicion concerning its authenticity; and #found in a place where such a writing was likely to be kept. Many states have similar rules, but may limit the application of the doctrine to specific ''kinds'' of documents such as ''dispositive instruments'' (primarily conveyances, deeds, and wills), and may require the documents to be even older. By admitting an ancient document into evidence, it is presumed only that the document ''is'' what it purports to be, but there are no presumptions about the truth of the document's ''contents''. A jury can still decide that the author of the document was lying or mistaken when the author wrote it.

Hearsay

Ancient documents also present an exception to the hearsay rule. FRE 803(16) applies this exception to all documents over twenty years old. Because of their age, they may be presented as evidence of the truth of any statements contained therein. Many states follow this rule as well, but again most limit it to documents that dispose of property. Evidence law