The looting by collectors of an archaeological site in the Shoshone Canyon, near Billings Montana, between Cody and Yellowstone National Park raises questions about how the US protects archaeological sites. It is a felony to excavate, collect, damage or destroy archaeological resources on federal lands under the Archaeological Resources Protection Act. It’s also a federal crime to sell, purchase or transport for sale any American Indian remains under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act. Law enforcement officials with the Bureau of Land Management are offering a $2,500 reward for the capture and conviction of those responsible.
Special Agent Mike Ramirez with the BLM in Billings, Mont., said that while the case remains under investigation, it is clear the looting was not the random act of casual collectors. “This wasn’t something somebody stumbled upon,” Ramirez said. “It’s quite evident that the people who dug this site did it on purpose. They actively pursued it and obliterated it, along with any hopes of recovering things.”Although the site has now been completely trashed by collectors, Ramirez said that there were indications that it was older than 4,000 years.
[...] Ramirez said archaeologists weren’t aware of the historic site prior to the incident. The looting was initially reported by members of the public, he said [...] “It wasn’t a recent Native American site within last 100 years,” Ramirez said.
“In Eastern Montana and parts of Wyoming, there’s so much public land that archaeologists and paleontologists don’t have a real good handle on where some of these sites are,” Ramirez said. “If we don’t know where they are we can’t protect them. It helps us out if people report something strange. That’s how our investigation starts.”Well, they obviously need a Portable antiquities Scheme then. Why has the PAS not bothered to set one up? 'BLM investigates looting of Wyoming archaeological site', Billings (Mont.) Gazette, July 06, 2012
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