drought bringing up the dead

[rgs]

Texas Drought Turns Weekend Warriors Into Looters of Artifacts, Fossils | ThePostGame

[rockhunter]

thats the kinda stuff that makes artifact collectors like most of us have a bad rap. I cant understand why people that do that dont just go take the time to find they're own campsites to dig, its alot more satisfying and you dont even have to do it in the middle of the night while looking over your shoulder. just lazy, careless, and disrespectful. I guess nobody around there can even go have a honest surface hunt now can they?

[pleeo]

This was one of the lead stories on Yahoo today. Paul

[Indianasmith]

Oh boy, the idiocy and bias in the reporting of this story on BOTH sides is amazing.
First, Texas and Federal law protect archeological sites on PUBLIC LAND only. Collecting artifacts anywhere else is, of course, perfectly legal, with property owner's permission.
second, the presence of bones does not make it a burial ground. It is impossible to tell if fragments of that size are human or not without DNA testing, the one complete tooth they showed was from a bison. And of course, the idea that sites are "protected" by being inundated by water is foolishness. Water erosion destroys sites, scatters lithic relics, and slowly disintegrates bone and pottery. Frankly, artifacts are far better off in private hands than being abandoned to that kind of decay and neglect.
All that being said, Lake Whitney is a Corps of Engineers lake. That is FEDERAL land. Which means that anyone caught there can face FEDERAL artifacts violation charges, which frankly don't distinguish between the casual surface collector and the determined commercial pot hunter. And the entire local collecting community knows that! Not only that, the Fort Worth District of the COE is known for busting any collector they catch, be he surface hunter or digger. So anyone that heads out on that lake to hunt artifacts is either stupid or totally ill informed. Frankly, I think all public waterways should be open to surface hunting, and digging for artifacts on public land should remain a no-no, but thus far I have been unable to get the State Legislature to see things my way. But a word of advice to all Texas artifact collectors - STAY OFF CORPS OF ENGINEER LAKES!

[Gomer]

Yes journalism making a simple story into all it can be!....yucko!
What are the state Archs and organizations doing theirelves on such a great opportunity??? I know, they are waiting on grant money so they will get paid. Such a dog and pony show.....jmpo.

[Wildhorse]

We had the same thing happen up here in Washington a few years ago when Grand Coulee dam was empty for construction of a new power plant. The lake bed was uncovered for the first time in many years and artifacts were scattered everywhere. No one cared to go out and save these but the private collectors. Of course that was not something you could do so most artifacts were lost and destroyed when the water came back up and washed everything away. Go figure ??? What is better lost and destroyed or saved and in a collection?.

[jodyray]

I think the whole whitney story is a bunch of crap. If the state owns these items, then they need to get off their a?? and go save them. To me the site was destroyed when they covered it in water. The state of texas needs to redo the law so the honest collector can go save these artifacts for future generations, by digging, grubbing, how ever the heck they want to. It saddens me, that we have all these laws were we cant do a dang thing anymore. Is there not enough crime, like drug dealings, by lake whitney that the state can be enforcing that really protects honest people. Thats my thoughts

[Indianasmith]

Good point, but remember, on Whitney, it's not the State, its the Feds. Whole different ball game if you get caught.