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Date: | Mon, 16 Jan 1995 17:20:18 -0800 |
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The point was made that we should utilzie all the help we can from
the avocational community. I concur. However, the most important
point is that it should be under supervision of trained individuals.
More importantly, though, the results of the investigations must be
made public, and the artifacts kept in a public repository. We
cannot have collectors who think they are trained because they have
attended one field school going out and digging up sites. This is
especially true if they are keeping their collections in their
basement or on the mantle. I have had several avocationals help at
sites and their work has been essential to getting the job done, but
I do not condone the private collection of artifacts obtained from
archaeological sites. About a year ago in Vancouver, two men were
digging for artifacts - bottles and ceramics - in the old Vancouver
dump. They undermined a large piece of earth which collapsed onto
their dig site. One man was killed and the other injured and
hospitalized. I felt bad that the man was killed, even though it was
not a smart thing they did. But what really irked me was the
newscaster on the major provincial newscast saying something to the
effect of: "The poor man died just trying to make a couple of honest
dollars". Really, the words "honest dollars" went out over the
airwaves on the noon news. We should be doing something to change
that attitude. But in places like Kansas city where treasure hunters
dug up the side wheeler "Arabia" and built one of the better museums
I've ever seen, you can't condems them all. What it comes down to is
attitude. If people want to learn and share and not make a profit
from the venture, lets encourage their participation in our vocation.
When people want to loot for profit, we should educate them
otherwise. As for this new network, the name is unfortunate if it
doesn't really convey what they want to use it for. We can't really
stop it, can we, but we could monitor it and make suggestions on
their methods.
Sandra Sauer
Simon Fraser University
Burnaby, B.C.
Canada
V5A 1S6
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