In old Tibet, archaeological study of cultural relics was not taken into consideration by local rulers. Only some foreign missionaries, merchants, explorers and scholars, all with different purposes, made some fragmented and unsystematic studies in this field.

It was only after the founding of new China that domestic scientists began to make planned investigations a reality.

Tibet's first cultural relic's administrative department was Set up in 1959. And in 1965, the Tibet Cultural Relic's Administrative Commission was formally initiated.

In the early 1960s, archaeological workers went to different parts of Tibet. They collected tens of thousands of cultural relics scattered among the people. These cultural relics included the most rare Pattra Suttra , Thangka (tapestry), known as a treasure of Tibet's painting art, and other rich and colorful folk religious ware. The discovery of the Pattra Sutra was especially important, a sutra written in Sanskrit on the leaf of Mantra, it originating from ancient india. Very difficult to preserve, only few Pattra Sutra are able to be seen in the world at present. They are the rarest of cultural relics. The work of collecting and studying the Pattra Sutra is of important significance to the study of Buddhism, as well as the ancient South Asian area. The cultural relics found in this research also included the imperial mandates issued by the central government in and after the Yuan and Ming dynasties to appoint local officials. They also included edicts, seals, golden books, inscribed boards, the stone tablets built in Lhasa and other parts of Tibet by Emperor Kangxi and Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty, the Jinbenba Bottle bestowed by the Emperor Qianlong for the use of deciding the incarnate boy of the Dalai Lama through drawing lots, and memorials to the stone, also documents and letters sent to the central government by local Tibetan government and tribal chiefs. These cultural relics provide indisputable evidence that Tibet is an inseparable part of China and that the Central Chinese Government has exercised sovereign administration over Tibet for a long time.

Since the early 1960s, Tibet's cultural relic's administrative department has also made investigations into the historical ruins, ancient buildings, grates and stone tablets, and cliff carvings which existed across all of Tibet. As a result, the department was able to get a comprehensive view and much clear knowledge about those historical monuments and cultural relics under state protection in the entire autonomous region. At present, the historical monuments and cultural relics under state protection in Tibet total 13; the Jokhang Monastery, the Potala Palace, Gandan Temple, Sa'gya Temple, Tashilhunpo Temple, Changzhug Temple, Tombs of Tibetan Kings, kingdom of Guge, Drepung monastery, Sera monastery, Norbulingka, Shalu Monastery, and the site of resistance to British aggression at Zongshan Gyangze. In addition, another 11 protected historical monument and cultural relics were decided on by the local government The state every year allocated a large amount of special funds, plus rare and valuable materials, for their maintenance. In 1988, the State Council approved an all-round renovation project of the world - famous Potala Palace. The working team was headed by State Councilor Li Tieying; the estimated investment was 35 million yuan (about U.S. $ 4 million). By 1992 , the investment rose to 53 million yuan (about U.S. $ 6 million). The repair of the Potala Palace set a record in China for the maintenance cost of an ancient building. The renovation project has been successfully completed.

By the end of the 1980s, Tibet's archaeological workers had found five sites of the Paleolithic Period, more than 30 of the Microlith Period, over 20 sites of ruins of the Neolithic Period. Moreover, they also found in Lhoka, Nagqu, and Lhasa more than 20 graves of the ancient Tubo Dynasty, totaling more than 2,000 tombs.

From 1978-79, the Tibet Cultural Relic's Administrative Commission organized a Study of ruins left from the Neolithic Period in Karub, Qamdo. These ruins were especially rich with distinctive characteristics of cultural relics. As a result, the research attracted great attention from both domestic and overseas academic circles. It was considered of epoch-making significance in the study of the ancient culture of Tibet. Experts felt it provided representative view of archaeological exploitation in the Tibetan Plateau. In 1984, archaeological workers found another ruin of the Neolithic Period in Qunkong in the northern suburb of Lhasa. This ruin of the Neolithic Period also proved of high academic value.