Neal Hitch contends: You are telling me that I cant dig up stuff in
my own yard or farm.

Unless things are really different in the far flung reaches of Ohio,
nobody's telling you you can't dig on your own property (unless there's
federal funding).

Kevin Batroy writes:I think it is rather pompous of us to think that
we operate on a "public mandate" ... especially when archaeologists seldom
involve themselves in the public sphere beyond their self-interests.

Are you in the ivory tower or the public sphere yourself? Those of us who
are entrusted with preserving and protecting significant public properties
often bemoan the fact that we can't indulge our self-interest more
frequently. But, to more directly answer your point, those of us who act in
the public interest spend a great deal of time involved with the public. We
are not faceless bureaucrats. We are activists within government. *You* try
to tell the most powerful military machine in the world where they can and
cannot dig holes.

John Dendy