>Treasure hunting does not often do this, save to make the material
remains, stripped from their
>context, available for sale.
 
Agreed. But not ALWAYS. So you are generalizing if you say all salvagers
are like that.
 
>Bottom line, if you want to treasure hunt do it in archaeology - record the
>information and do a good job so that we can all profit in the experience.
 
I agree totally. Most salvage companies WILL allow degreed archaeologists
to work with them. You have only to ask. Alot of them welcome them as it
increases the chances of an artifact not being destroyed (not that there
arn't salvors out there that have no conservation experience...quite a
large number do). And alot of salvors are willing to share their research
AFTER an excavation is finished. After all, if you were sy...working for
Woods Hole, and you discovered a colonial Spanish wreck (or any historic
wreck for that matter). Would you give everyone and their mother the
location? heck no. I think one of the big problems is a lack of trust
between commercial and institutional archaeologists. I wish both sides
could get along without all the bickering and infighting. because wether
folks like it or not, both sides are archaeologists. Some have degrees,
some don't. SOme have tons of experience (on both sides), and some don't. I
don't claim to be a great discoverer on either end of the fence. I do have
alot of ROV time logged, perhaps in the top ten in the field of underwater
archaeology in terms of raw hours of down time. I would love to work with
Woods Hole or an organization of it's type. But it ain't gonna happen.
Sadly. A loss for both sides IMVHO. Maybe someday we will all get along.
But I don't see that changing until people do, and we all know how stubborn
we can be.
 
With my regards,
Matt CIM