Clovis and Artefact-Hunter Head-Patting in America

A journal article by Bonnie L. Pitblado (Department of Anthropology, University of Oklahoma) will please artefact hunters no end. She writes 'An Argument for Ethical, Proactive, Archaeologist-Artifact Collector Collaboration' (American Antiquity Vol.79 (3) July 2014) and claims to address "the contentious issue of collaboration between archaeologists and artifact collectors".

In many instances, alienating members of the collecting public is not just bad practice; such alienation itself also violates the Society for American Archaeology's (SAA’s) Principles of Archaeological Ethics. I make my case by first exploring the SAA's ethical code. I focus initially on “stewardship” and “commercialization,” which many cite as reasons for rejecting relationships with artifact collectors. I then discuss other SAA principles that support the perspective that archaeologists should actively reach out to citizens with private collections whenever possible.

What about stopping collectors destroying sites with minimal and non-existent documentation to get out the collectable geegaws that the delighted archaeologists get presented to them? Is there nothing in the SAA code of ethics about striving for site protection? The author then develops her argument by referring to arrowhead hunting:

I present a case study exploring what the Clovis archaeological record might look like had archaeologists rejected the overtures of a century of collectors who brought Pleistocene finds to the attention of professionals. Had practitioners accepted only those Clovis sites free of collector involvement, our understanding of Clovis lifeways would be quite different from what it is today. This essay has two messages. First, collectors can advance, and have advanced, archaeology by reaching out to archaeologists willing to reach back. Second, our own code of ethics suggests that responsibly engaging artifact collectors is not just “okay,” it is its own ethical imperative.

What if the artefacts being brought in are coming from unauthorised searching on Federal-owned land or other protected areas?

What about artefact hunters who exploit sites in the red areas here?

Not a problem with fluted points? (Michael K. Faught)