Just when you think that things can't possibly be worse for site
preservation, you read about safari collecting on Civil War battlefields in
the East. Similar collecting opportunities were once advertised as featured
highlights of Oregon Trail wagontrain tours out here on the Plains, but
that aspect of the tours is now downplayed if it is still done at all as a
sanctioned activity. I chalk that up as a minor victory for the historic
preservation interests that raised objections to the practice years ago.
There's something to be said for negative publicity.

Not to be outdone, though, the American Southwest offers timeshare digging
at a massive Anasazi site operated like a stocked fishing hole (with two
pricing options: keep what you find or "catch and release" the objects for
display in a private museum on the grounds). You can even buy your very own
kiva for $1.5 million and collect sufficient info to reconstruct it
elsewhere (the entire enterprise is justified on the premise that the area
will soon be lost to erosion). The program purports to be supervised by a
"professional archeologist" (BA, 1993) with the altruistic goal of
documenting a threatened cultural resource before it's gone. Of course,
aside from the ethical dilemmas that premise poses, one must wonder at the
quality of data collection done at the hands of untrained paying customers
presumably overseen by one person of rather limited experience. How all
this information is to be analyzed after it's collected is also an
interesting question.

Take a look at this website to see where we could be headed at some of our
larger unprotected historic sites: http://www.anasazi-digs.com/index.htm







                                                                                                                                       
                      George Myers                                                                                                     
                      <georgejmyersjr@G        To:       [log in to unmask]                                                              
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                      HISTORICAL                                                                                                       
                      ARCHAEOLOGY                                                                                                      
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                      04/16/2006 09:13                                                                                                 
                      AM AST                                                                                                           
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                      HISTORICAL                                                                                                       
                      ARCHAEOLOGY                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                       




Unearthed War Relics See Battle Again
Archaeologists Decry History Buffs' Digs
By Brigid Schulte
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, April 16, 2006; Page A01

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/15/AR2006041501187.html?sub=AR