Is Archaeology a thing of the past?

Subject: RE: Is Archaeology a thing of the past?
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 12 Feb 02 - 07:37 PM

Can you imagine having this kind of conversation about any other profession?

Can you imagine an amateur with a dental drill thinking he ought to be allowed to drill teeth?

Can you imagine someone sending away for a mail-order dissecting kit, and then thinking he's a qualified surgeon?

Subject: RE: Is Archaeology a thing of the past?
From: GUEST,Chicken Charlie
Date: 12 Feb 02 - 10:20 PM

Having worked a good number of digs when I was young, strong and stupid, I can give you the answer in one word: provenience (also provenance). "Find information." The object is worthless in terms of historical evidence if you cannot say exactly where you found it and at what depth. Pot-hunters can't be bothered with anything except the intrinsic value of item itself--how good it looks on the mantle. Archaeologists trying to determine, for example, whether a given group arrived in an area suddenly or gradually, whether they conquered the previous inhabitants or intermingled with them, etc., need very, very meticulous info on finds. It's not the metal detector per se that is objectionable so much as the smash-and-grab mindset that seems to go with it in many--but not necessarily all--cases.

An old Shovel-Bum