The bottle digger's page really is quite interesting.  I like how he ends
it with a list of the things that a bottle collector "should" do:

--Give back in the form of information for what you take out.
--Write books and articles, share your finds - broken or whole.
--Collect information about local bottles for the historical society.
--Show consideration for historic sites or others of potential historical
significance (e.g. battlefields, homes of historic figures, public lands etc.)
--Dig by permission
--Show respect for the environment and property

That would be just peachy but it isn't well followed from what I have
experienced.

As for researching and learning and sharing, that is something that the
bottle collecting community needs to polish up on.  A short while ago I did
some research on a local Patent Medicine manufacturer, Dr. Alvin Foord,
maker of "Foord's Pectoral Syrup" and "Tonic Cordial".

http://www.rootsweb.com/~nyccazen/Shorts/Questions/AlvinFoord.html

I have all sorts of stuff about the guy and his practice, and even the
damned recipe for the stuff, but the only requests I ever get as an
historian for the town mentioned on the bottle (Cazenovia, NY) is "How much
is it worth?"  (I had to make up the question at the top of the page in
order to make it seem as if anyone cared about the HISTORY of the bottle.
99% of the bottle diggers I've met don't give a rat's patootie what the
history of the thing is.  They want to know what they can get for it.

That of course is not to say that there are not plenty of people out there
who love to collect bottles and research their history.  I started off
diggin bottles when I was about 7 or 8 and soon realized that the context
of the deposit was far more interesting than anyhting.

        Dan W.

At 02:55 PM 2/21/01 -0900, you wrote:
>HISTARCH,
>
>Found an interesting webpage regarding the following topic: "On the
>Difference Between Archaeologists and Bottle Diggers: A Half Serious
>Analysis".  Thought you would enjoy.
>
>Its specific webpage address is...
>
>http://www.bottlebooks.com/Archaeologists%20and%20the%20Bottle%20Diggers.htm
>
>If this doesn't work, go to "www.bottlebooks.com", and do a Search for the
word "question";
>it will get this page and many other interesting items in "Digger's" webpage.
>
>Sounds like he's met and talked with many archaeologists during his tenure!
>
>
>Robin
>