Update on finds, archaeological dig...

[Brush Creek]

Most people don't own any thing that feel that way.
If I own my own land. I also own the History and soil of that land.
If I want a pond to water my livestock or a Burger joint there to support my family its Mine to do as I please.
I personally would let the historical people come in and check it out first. That's just my personal beliefs but I don't want someone telling me I have to.
It would be to much like a social society ( Socialism ) if I lost control over MY land.

 

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[desertfox]

Yes, three WOW's for you. That's the way to go George! The reason the Arc team was so nice to you was because they were a private firm not state employes that think everything belongs to them and them alone!! Glad to have you back out in the field....
HH

Desertfox

 

[george77]

It's interesting you should point that out, Brush Creek. It is for that very reason (socialism, that is) that many states, if not most or all states, stipulate that any construction project which is in any way funded by state or federal money and which has any known potential archaeological/historical significance, must allow for a survey to be attempted first. And since corporations, by far, enjoy the vast majority of financial benefits that our particular brand of socialism has to offer and given the vast amounts of land owned by these tax-subsidized legal entities, I guess our well-meaning, but perhaps naive, representatives thought it only seemed fair and just that they occasionally be made to pause the corporate-industrial mechanizations momentarily to allow those of us that subsidize corporate profits to lay claim to our shared history.

I agree with you. I wouldn't want some socialist government coming and telling me what to do with my land, either. (Incidentally, I have some Middle Eastern friends who feel the same way.) But, then, as you might have guessed, I don't own any land. The only thing I truly own is what's in my head. And, man, do I hate it when they mess with that. So I turn off my TV and go metal detecting at the public park.

 

[george77]

Thanks Desertfox.

But believe it or not, it was the state archaeologist who I spoke with on the phone that was the extra polite/helpful one. I mean, they all were really. Archaeologists, I've found, are very reasonable and patient people relatively speaking. Not to mention, they get to play in dirt for a living, every blue-blooded boy's dream.

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And also, thanks, Nan. It's good to be back out and about.

 

[CRUSADER]

I agree work with the arcies if construction is being done. I have done the same but I had to hand in all my finds even though I had permission from the owners to do it anyway. It was good to work with them & was worth losing the stuff.

 

[george77]

Hey, good for you, CRUSADER. I did a lot of pacing back and forth before I called them, myself. I was really unsure if I'd be welcome to keep the stuff I'd found. And I had some pretty strong feelings about what would happen to the stuff if I did have to give it up.

For instance, I didn't want it all to sit in a pull-out drawer somewhere hundreds of miles from where it was found, hidden from public view, on the one hand (almost no better than remaining in the ground). On the other hand, I knew it wasn't even close to good enough for a museum to consider for display. At the very least, having grown up here and having family and friends here and being involved with nephews and other kids, I thought I could introduce many more people (who would not otherwise have a means or inclination to make it to the museums) to local history, archaeology, etc., by sharing these finds with them in their homes and what-not. Of course, I wouldn't want to carelessly hoard things I couldn't properly care for, either.

So yeah, I did a lot of pacing back and forth, literally, before I called them. I knew that, ultimately, if I made the call, I might have to give it all up. What a relief it was to hear the guy from the state's archaeology department almost immediately say that I was welcome to keep my finds if I wished.

I know you guys from England oftentimes have to give up your finds of great antiquity. I respect that policy and the self-control you, yourselves, have not to hoard the things. A lot of countries are having their history expatriated to far-away places in the hands of unscrupulous collectors and merchants. I shudder to think of what we all are losing in the current wars in the Middle East. And I mean that on all ends. It's destroying our civilization through its moral bankruptcy and it's robbing us of many of the most ancient sites and artifacts known and unknown to the civilized world--robbing us all of our future and our past all at once.

Sorry, this all ties together with stuff I feel very strongly about.

I hope my attitude would be as good as yours, CRUSADER, if I did have to hand it over. Well done, sir.