This issue raises the concerns causes many archaeologists to loose
sleep.  How do we protect sites on private land?  In this case it seems
the Fullers may be well meaning amateurs.   However, excavating burials
is different from nearly every type of archaeological endeavor.
Properly excavated burials can provide more information than can be list
here.  The forensic information alone can tell a lot about the health
and life of the individual and possibly about occupations.  On a burial
I excavated of a hard rock miner the forensic work up told us how hard
the life for a mid-1800s miner was.  Some of the information included
squatting facets (they did not stand up in the mine), clay shoveler's
shoulder, and every bone broken at some time to name a few.  So, what
beyond just digging is the intent of the amateurs?  Are they to be
studied, exposed and then reburied, or just what?  By going to the AP
and not bringing in professionals, I think Ron is right and they are
looking for the publicity.  

Also, in regards to Ron's previous message, California has had
relatively tough cemetery laws for some time.  I recall six inhumations
is the threshold for a cemetery as was indicated earlier, but for fewer
then six, the area of the remains is to be considered a legal cemetery.
Ron, do you remember if that is correct.  I am trying to stretch my
memory way back to the research we did for Fox Point.

Stan Berryman
Cultural Resources Program Manager
AC/S Environmental Security
Box 555008
Camp Pendleton, Ca 92055-5008

Office 760-725-9738
DSN         365-9738
Fax    760-725-9722

email [log in to unmask]
     

-----Original Message-----
From: HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Ron
May
Sent: Wednesday, June 07, 2006 10:28
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: French and Indian War Graves & NY Looting merged at last

 
In a message dated 6/7/2006 8:36:21 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:

http://www.poststar.com/articles/2006/06/07/news/doc44864d99ede073058078
64.txt



Ok, I read those latest articles and the most telling evidence is the
fact they used a "front end loader" to cut a swath through the cemetery.
To their credit, the burials have been pedestalled in place, but has
anyone seen their field notes, drawings, and photographs? Moreover, the
photos I did see did not  reveal a standard excavation grid. The soil
was just heaped outside the dig area, not in piles under a shaker
screen, which looks more like a looter's pit  than an archaeology
project. I guess we ought to wait to hear from the New York  SHPO,
assuming they would share their findings with us and not their state
attorney general. 
 
I think the point here is that we all have known interested amateurs who
want to make discoveries on their own and become famous before they die,
so venture out collecting and pot-holing on weekends. In states with
weaker laws, where land owners allow collecting, and where amateurs get
hired as property managers, it is easier for the untrained to justify
collecting and digging.  
Heck, most of the people who went through field school with me over the
years probably went out collecting at some point in their lives. We even
had a discussion a few months back that smoked-out federal employees
(one a land  manager) who are hobby collectors and diggers. We have to
draw a line in the  sand as to how we distinguish a professional and am
amateur. Beyond academia,  there is the Register of Professional
Archaeologists and that has been the line  I have drawn in the sand. I
am very sorry to learn that American history has  been compromised by a
mechanical front-end loader and two adventurers who could not wait to
bring-in professional archaeologists to investigate this very important
site in a proper manner.
 
Ron May
Legacy 106, Inc.