[ARC5] A Letter from the pCAF

[William Donzelli]

> I get "all pissy" with people who get "all pissy" about that.
> I see nothing noble or honorable about letting historic
> artifacts rot in the ground.  The loss of thousands of
> American Civil War artifacts because of a misguided "no dig"
> policy at our national parks is a disgrace.  Congress is never
> going to fund official digs at these places; at least, not many.
> Why not train people, give them some simple standards
> and turn them loose to recover these irreplaceable items?

The reason for "no-dig" policies is because allowing "pot hunters" (named
for the guys that go along looking for ancient pottery) to get a license
would have a DEVASTATING effect on the museum community. They have
problems enough with the pot hunters, and how what they do comprimises the
history of past and present digs. Any museum or archaeologist will tell
you that the physical artifacts are _very_secondary_ to the history
(things like the site and circumstances of the excavation) attached to
them. The antiques folks call this provenance. A flood of questionable new
historic material would cause a horrible mess.

It is a shame to see stuff rot, but we can't save it all. The
consequences of unrestricted (or slightly retricted) pot hunting is too
much of a price to pay. If you want to save a wreck, get involved with a
university or museum, and see if you can get a grant. Very hard, but
possible.

William Donzelli
aw288 at osfn.org