Lyle Browning wrote:

>In my view, the only workable solution will be to get down in >the trenches with them, and point by point, demolish their >arguments, pull the BS out, spotlight the horrible practices >and keep pounding  that until change is forced.

--and--

"...we have to think ahead to  
counter each point in the standard litany."
-------------------------------------------------

Your comments speak to the vital need for archaeologists to adopt an ethnographic attitude in countering the plague of resource destruction.

There is indeed a "standard litany" of relic hunting apologetics.  We should know what this is and articulate pungent and clearly-sensible counter-positions. 

An educational program based on this kind of careful listening and a willingess to "dialogue," i.e. confront the standard litany with alternative visions and argue our points, should be part of the total strategy.  

In the recent "organized hunts," participants were engaging in LEGAL activity. This was not illegal Ninja-style looting and the hunters know the difference. 

I think we need to do a better job of communicating with the hunters and the public to explain why organized hunts are undesirable, if legal, activities and answer the hunters' standard litany when they roll it out, which they surely will, every time.

The "water cooled fifty" mentality has a role to play also. When I hear about grave robbing and wanton destruction of public resources, I want to "lock and load" myself, even though I am a peacenik at heart. 

We're supposed to be anthropologists. We're educators. We understand cultural resources laws and strategies. And we are obligated to be oriented to the public interest. 

In my mind, these core values and skills provide the tools to articulate a better public communication strategy than we currently employ. We've got to use everything we have.

Battle for "hearts and minds," if one wants to call it that, is a long-haul enterprise and a struggle we can never hope to cleanly "win" -- but this is an important front for engagement. 


Joe Roberts
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