Government entities (speaking from a state DOT) are not supposed to offer 
more than fair market value for any property, regardless of what's on the 
property.  Such an act could be construed as a misuse of Federal funds and 
could get the agency in some deep trouble.  What you are suggesting is that 
the presence of the archaeological site (i.e. unmarked cemetery) somehow 
increases the monetary value of the property Mr. Nastasi wishes to sell to 
the State of NY.  Ethically, any archaeologist would not/should not 
attribute such values.  What is found increases the value of the property 
historically, but not monetarily.

What is also interesting is that the Fullers were given permission to look 
for relics/artifacts on the privately-owned property.  Fine...that happens 
all the time on private property, but when and how did that evolve into 
physically excavating human skeletons?  I believe there's a lot not being 
said.  Also, does NY not have legislation on the treatment of unmarked 
burials, and not just Native American (or is that what's in assembly now)?

Paul J. Mohler
NCDOT Archaeology Section
[log in to unmask]


>From: Al Tonetti <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY <[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: French and Indian War Graves & NY Looting merged at last
>Date: Wed, 07 Jun 2006 14:12:19 -0400
>
>I also read the latest articles, and reading between the lines it seems to
>me there could be more going on here than meets the eye.  Put yourself in
>the landowners position.  If I was at an impasse with the state on the
>purchase of my reportedly historically significant property because the
>price being offered by the state was not what I thought it was worth, I'd
>want to do something to show the state that it's worth more than they are
>currently willing to offer.  Maybe I would let some professionally
>experienced local archaeologists with an interest in the property dig 
>around
>a little hoping to find something that would get the the public's and the
>state's attention, and increase the value of the land in question,
>especially if they could locate that cemetery where some soldiers were
>reportedly buried.
>
>As is often the case, follow the money.
>
>Al Tonetti
>ASC Group, Inc.
>4620 Indianola Avenue
>Columbus, OH 43214-1861
>(614) 268-2514 x18
>(614) 268-7881 fax
>[log in to unmask]
>www.ascgroup.net
>
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Ron
>May
>Sent: Wednesday, June 07, 2006 1:28 PM
>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/doc44864d99ede07305807864.t
>xt
>
>
>
>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.