BillA
Bronze Member
artifacts can be damaged in so many ways, in antiquity is one thing and today quite another
I have seen a number of such - after the fact - and am uniformly distressed at the wanton, and sometimes intentional, damage
some unfortunately remain in my memory
the first I would mention occured during a visit to a local rancher in central Mexico and the discussion drifted to artifacts
the rancher described a copper 'antler' found on his ranch (and my heart started thumping),
he had found only one with a single bump and curved and tapering
I asked to see it and after a 1/2 hour he returned; it had been straightened and used as a punch or drift
I was stunned
the second was at my house in rural Mexico where I was offered a sack full of lithic Mescala artifacts
I (always) declined but discussed a 1' long male member in green serpentine among the items
2 weeks later someone else came and offered the same items but the green piece was smashed on its end
I asked why it was recently broken and was told to prevent the bad luck
this is what's wrong with looters
I have seen a number of such - after the fact - and am uniformly distressed at the wanton, and sometimes intentional, damage
some unfortunately remain in my memory
the first I would mention occured during a visit to a local rancher in central Mexico and the discussion drifted to artifacts
the rancher described a copper 'antler' found on his ranch (and my heart started thumping),
he had found only one with a single bump and curved and tapering
I asked to see it and after a 1/2 hour he returned; it had been straightened and used as a punch or drift
I was stunned
the second was at my house in rural Mexico where I was offered a sack full of lithic Mescala artifacts
I (always) declined but discussed a 1' long male member in green serpentine among the items
2 weeks later someone else came and offered the same items but the green piece was smashed on its end
I asked why it was recently broken and was told to prevent the bad luck
this is what's wrong with looters
