Tuesday, November 22, 2011

More Thoughts on Stuart Campbell's Ruler

During CPAC's recent public meeting about the proposed Bulgarian MOU, I borrowed a page from Stuart Campbell, a Scottish archaeologist and government official, to suggest most people consider illicit excavations to be no worse than a traffic violation.

Of course, not all illicit excavations are equal. Here is how I would rank them from the most troubling to the least:

  • Illicit excavations from world heritage sites;


  • Illicit excavations from active archaeological sites;


  • Illicit excavations from inactive archaeological sites;


  • Illicit excavations from archaeological sites that are obvious, but have not been excavated;


  • Illicit excavations from mounds of excavated dirt on inactive archaeological sites;


  • Illicit excavations from private land where there are no obvious archaeological features;


  • Illicit excavations from private land that already has been disturbed by ploughing.


  • And speaking of "wrongs," where would most people rank any failure of archaeologists to:

  • Properly record what they find;


  • Properly publish what they find;


  • Properly preserve what they find;


  • Properly display what they find.

    Where would archaeologists rank theses sins? Are they any worse than illicit excavations?
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