Strike One for Amateur Archaeologists!

[Rokcet Scientist]

BBC: 20 November 2007

'Dramatic' ancient cemetery found

A freelance archaeologist has uncovered what is thought to be the only known Anglo-Saxon royal burial site in the north of England.
Spectacular gold jewellery, weapons and clothing were found at the 109-grave cemetery, believed to date from the middle of the 7th Century.

Excavations were carried out after Steve Sherlock studied an aerial photo of the land near Redcar, Teesside.

Traditionally, Anglo-Saxon royalty were [...]

Whole article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/tees/7104498.stm

[kbs2244]

What suprises me on this story is that he was allowed to be the supervisor for years. It must have early on become clear this site was to be inportant.
Where were the "pros?"
I would have expected someone with "papers" to swoop in, take charge, and claim the glory.
But he took it from discorery to publishing. And evidently on his own money.

[fossiltrader]

Different countries different rules i think for instance here we have to be qualified to dig which means a 17 day onsite course a 6 month university course and an average pass of 80% plus one dig at least per year to keep qualifications.
If we dig without that or relevant endless forms you in deep doo doo.

[Cognito]

FT, in California anyone is allowed to dig on private land, until they find something that is considered relevant to archaeology. Then, they get hammered. On National Forest Service (NFS) and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) acreage nobody is allowed to dig let alone pick up anything unless supervised by a reputable archaeologist. Otherwise, it's a felony. Protected land in California represents about 35% of the total area, Nevada is about 76%. Most of the sites people would like to plunder are in protected areas, and there are prosecutions every year.

http://www.wildlandfire.com/docs/2007/w ... c-land.htm

The site I travel to from time to time is private land, but I also visit under the auspices of a local archaeologist. I can pick up surface lithics as long as they are recorded, but no digging. All surface lithics wind up eventually in the County museum after being cataloged and photgraphed.

[Beagle]

In the original post in this thread, the man is described as a freelance archaeologist. Not an amateur.

[Frank Harrist]

What exactly IS a freelance archaeologist? I'm an amateur, but I wouldn't call myself a freelance archaeologist. I would never tackle a project of that size either, without the help of a pro or two. The laws here in Texas are pretty similar to the ones in California. One exception is that if it's on private land the disposition of the site and artifacts is at the sole discretion of the landowner. Public lands are totally off limits without permits. They are quite serious about it too.

[fossiltrader]

hi frank im free lance i think to my way of looking at it i dont work full time for anyone one week could be the land council the next a developer it the only way to go i think otherwise if you accept university money you expected to accept university guidelines which to be honest stink.

[Frank Harrist]

Over here they are sometimes referred to as shovelbums. Sounds derogatory and insulting, but they call themselves that. It's a hard way to go, but as you said your integrity remains intact. Field archaeologists do the most work for the least pay.