Is it ethical to recover artifacts from disaster sites?

[Michigan Badger]

Is it ethical to recover artifacts from disaster sites?

This is a question that was heavily debated back when the Titanic was discovered. But it?s still a viable question today.

Some examples: What about recovering items from shipwreck sites? What about the selling of shipwreck items for profit? What about hunting near (or on) cemeteries or battlefield sites? What about removing personal items from plane crash sites? What about "Ground Zero" of the Twin Towers? Well, I think you see where I?m going with this.

What makes it right and what makes it wrong? Is it race? time? location?

Please share.

 

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[stoney56]

Interesting question. Makes u think about morality. Would I recover items from a shipwreck? Since I'm at least 600 mi from the ocean and had a chance, probably. Depending on the type of ship wreck of course, since the Navy keeps most ships in inventory even after sunk (considered on perpetual patrol). Civil War battlefields yes if not recognized and protected by Federal Law and if so, then the areas surrounding them on private property and with written permission are fair game. Cemetaries-the boundaries IMO would be OK but not around the headstones themselves. I would also not detect Indian cemetaries-personal reasons. Twin Towers and places like the OKC Memorial--no. Plane crash sites or auto crash sites-yes and depending on what was found, would try to reconnect items to owners or next of kin if possible.
Guess I walk a fine line and have a streak of morality after all. IMO

 

[ZumbroKid]

It's a question of motive, that would determine it all.

 

[stoney56]

Well then it wouldn't be for the money, just the experience and the excitement of what may be uncovered.

 

[bazinga]

To add to this topic.... hunting in New Orleans now after Katrina..... I'm sure there are some goodies.....

 

[jeff of pa]

MY OWN PERSONAL OPINION I WOULD.

? It all comes Down to your Own Sense of Morality.

I was Brought Up Believing What I want to Do I should.

AS long as Nobody Can get Physically Hurt From My actions.

? ? ? ? ? ? I'v Never had Fear of Being Struck Down by Lightning, So I have NO Discomfort Digging in a Site where a Tragedy Happend.

OF COURSE If your Religeous or Moral Feelings, would cause you Discomfort, then I'd say don't.

 

[spotz]

Disaster sites have already been cleared of mortal remains. As long as you have consent to detect there, it's just stuff. Historic sites such as civil war, if you don't recover something there, it sheds no new light on what happened there. You, the detectorist, are in a sense an archie, in the fact that you are recovering a piece of history & you are happy to share your find among others. History is being taught from your find.

Battle sites, pioneer cemetaries, historical locations, should be fair game as long as they have not been declared as a registerd national monument. Indian burial grounds are known by all who detect to all to be off limits. Does that mean I'd throw back an iron arrow head if I found one? Not on your life! I feel that if you are not making an excavation 2 or 3 feet deep with a shovel or a back hoe, you are not doing any damage to the site.

If you detect & recover items at any of these types of places, as long as you do not actually disturbe the final resting place of someone, you can't possibly do any more damage than a gopher. Probably a lot less if you are digging like you should be. No one should be able to tell that you were there after a reasonable amount of time. If it's a nice, watered green lawn, they should have a hard time even discovering where you dug.

Of course, this is just MY personal oponion.
Spotz

 

[Michigan Badger]

Good comments!

Here's something to add to all this.

Not long after the Titanic sunk, another ship "The Empress of Ireland" sank taking the lives of more than the Titanic (some 8 souls more).

According to the PBS site, divers in the late 1980's to mid 90's took everything they could from the wreck. They even took the bones of the nearly 1000 dead trapped inside the ship!

http://www.pbs.org/lostliners/empress.html

 

[lonewolfe]

Hunt it all, and leave no signal undug!!

At least that's what I'd do!

What YOU do is your own biz, and I could care less!

HH

Lonewolfe

 

[SHERMANVILLE ILLINOIS]

If you can legally hunt an area it all depends on how you feel about it. It's your decision, if your comfortable with it, do it.

all have a good un.....

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

I often think about this myself. The best places to search are wars and disaster sites. Even lost money or jewelry is someones personal small disaster.. But I think most of us are NOT in this for the money, and we are not profitting from someone Else's loss.
I search a centuries old Spanish shipwreck disaster or Civil War site where many people died painfully and nobody cares... But if I were to search the Twin Towers or the Everglades jet crash location, someone would object because it is a more recent tragedy. So a couple of centuries from now, someone will be recovering personal items from the long forgotten disasters of our time, and think nothing about it...generations past and time forgotten.
bigcypresshunter.

 

[Mental Granny]

If your great great great grandfather died at The Battle of Bull Run or Richmond and someone found an item that could be traced back to him would you want it left to rot or would you want it back? Until stuff is dug and brought to light, it's only trash that someone left behind. Cannonballs are just abnormal iron deposits and bullets are just pieces of lead that leaches into the soil.

 

[birdman]

I went to Pompey about 10 years ago and was looking for anything I could find.I guess it is all about the time spanned.

 

[FiveFoote]

Thirty years ago there was a "disaster" in our family in which my aunt, uncle and two cousins were killed in a fiery automobile accident in Arizona while they were on vacation. One cousin survived. About 15 years ago my cousin's brother's class ring was found at the site of the accident. Obviously damaged by heat and weathered from being in the ground it was greatly appreciated when the finder tracked it back to my cousin and returned it to him.

Time has a way of changing people's persectives on things. I'm sure if we had known people were poking around soon after the accident we would have been very upset. Now however, having a personal item found and returned after all these years was really appreciated.

FiveFoote

 

[tallpaul]

this is it if a person can find a lost item from a dsiaster site and reunite someone with it thats a good thing, and you know you've done well, as for personall gain if any old coins or stuff was found whilst hunting for recent items lost then thats your little stash,, just my views on that topic. cant say id personnally want to find a gold ring with a finger still through it.

 

[jbow]

Absolutely...

I, personally, would have no problem whatsoever. Do you hunt on battlefields? Do you think people died horrible deaths there crying for their mothers? I think that probably qualifies as a tragedy. An old plane crash site? Sure. Shipwreck? Sure. What's the big difference.
It would never cross my mind to worry about it as long as the site isn't so fresh that it is still being investigated etc. I'd love to get the the site where Carol Lombard's plane went down but I am not capable. http://www.av.qnet.com/~carcomm/wreck16.htm
Would I like to search for her jewelry? You bet!

I draw the line at graverobbing. Some professionals don't see a problem with that even... but I would really feel weird if I did something like that.
I would, however, MD in a cemetary if I could be sure that no one would know, I would not dig on a gravesite but the roads and grounds...yes, but not if anyone would know. So it's really hypothetical because I could never be sure no one would know so I wouldn't do it...probably.... I just would not want to offend or anger someone who had a relative buried there.

That's the way I look at it.

Tragedy? No problem...

Julien

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

jbow, people ARE buried at the Everglades plane crash site as well as at the twin towers. I think this is why people would be offended. It will only be acceptable when time passes.
FiveFoote, thanks for sharing your amazing story about the rings return.

 

[hollowpointred]

If you can legally hunt an area it all depends on how you feel about it.? It's your decision, if your comfortable with it, do it.

all have a good un.....

i have to agree with shermanville, it is a very personal decision with a lot of variables.follow your heart.

 

[jbow]

jbow,? people ARE buried at the Everglades plane crash site as well as at the twin towers. I think this is why people would be offended. It will only be acceptable when time passes.
FiveFoote,? thanks for sharing your amazing story about the rings return.

I think I covered that when I said that I would not a hunt a site that is fresh or still investigated. That site could be considered a cemetary but then again I don't think for a minute that there are any bodies left. Certainly not within 18" of the surface. I do see your point however and I would not hunt there.

J