Finders Keepers

I can not completely agree with the author view concerning artifacts and archaeology. In some ways I do but not to his extreme. I think many archaeologists, the BLM, NPS and the Federal government have set up a system to confiscate the riches and artifacts of our nation for their personal agendas and punish everyone else who happens upon them. Like the author, I am strongly against looting of recognized grave and burial sites. Like the author, I detest pot hunters who ruin sacred sites or loot burials grounds. Everyone should show respect for the deceased where awareness exists. BUT picking up an arrow head?! Really? Arrowheads, spear points, shot gun shells, bullet casings or marbles shot from sling shots are spent items and by purpose are disposable! If an Indian wanted his arrow point so badly, he would have retrieved it to use again. They didn't. Coins, tools, etc... found by accident, exposed through the natural elements can and should be reclaimed by someone who can appreciate them and be reminded of the past. These items stories should be celebrated and retold to keep the spirit of their makers alive. I completely side with FORREST FENN in the book who keeps the story of artifacts and the people who make them alive! I agree with Fenn that It's much better and honest to admire, appreciate, and celebrate the cultures of eras gone by through an artifact than to confiscate by authorities who don't really care about the origins of the artifact or the maker. As the book admitted, they collect them to be boxed up and kept in a warehouse, away from the citizens of our country, rather than to allow reasonable acquisitions and possession of objects abandoned. This book made me think today as I drove down the highways, I see tons of trash on the ground, left to rot where it lay. I admire those who go out and pick up tin cans and bottles for the value they can get from trash left behind by others. BUT according to the author and this book, the archaeology community and the Federal government, those same items carelessly thrown about today could land one in jail a hundred years from now if picked up. To me that sounds like hypocrisy!!! Whenever it comes to greater monetary value, that's when the power's that be step in to inact their control over things. This book also reminded me of a recent story, three teens hiking on a mountain trail in Hawaii found an ancient spear point laying on the ground surface, picked it up and tried to turn it in to the national park service to preserve it. They thought they were doing a noble thing. However, they were threatened with prison for having picked it up! They were trying to protect this treasured ancient item and to preserve it by letting the authorities know! Place it into hands they believed would display it for all to see and enjoy. Wheres the ancient point now? Who knows, the government has it so now no one gets to enjoy it and the three teens are criminalized for turning it in! As in the book, Lesson learned... report anything to the government and they will only confiscate the item and punish you. And what of the man in Utah who found all the gold bars in a cave??? BLM wanted to confiscate it all without giving any credit or finders fee to the poor guy who found them! He refuses to tell anyone where the gold is including BLM! Good for him! This man tried to be honest! But according to this author, he should just leave it for others to enjoy looking at... yeah, right! It would be nieve and foolish to leave something lying on the ground that could possible injure someone else later like a sharp arrowhead. And more foolish to think anyone would leave gold bars laying in a cave. As for Finders keepers, yes I think so. As for Exploiters and looters, no I dont. This book I give three stars for great info on what's happening out there and how the government is handling it. I also credit the author for attempting to walk a fine line in all the controversy. But I take off two stars as I disagree with the authors extreme position in the matter. I recommend this book to others so they can decide which side of the line they walk on. As for me, like the author, I guess I am on both sides of the line. Great read!!!

Two memories came to mind as I made my way through this readable but difficult book: (1) Seeing the work of screwball relic hunters who had dug tiles out of Tom Cruise's star on Hollywood Boulevard, apparently seeking some intimate souvenir of their obsession; (2) member of my immediate and extended family showing off arrowheads they'd found in the Idaho desert lands. It's tempting and too easy to say that one was a nobler, less destructive activity than the other, but both were attempts to take possession of something larger than life, to own a piece of history.Though not a direct sequel to "House of Rain," Craig Childs does return to that territory (as well as Tibet, Central America, and St. Laurence Island) to examine what's been going on with what's been unearthed, and the stories are neither pretty nor black & white/good vs. evil. Balanced against stories of shameless pot hunters and relic poachers are accounts of both professional and self-declared archeologists removing the past from its moorings. But where do we draw the line between legitimate removal (for preservation and/or academic purposes) and removal simply to possess something for whatever intangible power or value we see in it? Where is the line between preservation and destruction?Childs avoids the pitfalls of caricature and easy answers. His writing is lively and his stories engrossing, which makes the dilemmas that much more heartwrenching. Though he obviously favors the repatriation of artifacts to their home turf, he is also cognizant that that may not always be best choice or even possible, calling into question his own act of "guerilla repatriation" that opens the book."Some people just can't leave a big fish alone," a game warden once told me in regard to a protected stream she was watching. The same could be said of our ancient heritage. Childs asks to us to consider the proposition that we have "enough." It's up to all of us to decide. This book makes the case for it; it is one of the most compelling and moral books you will ever read.

The first half of this is about people finding pot chards in American Southwest, he steals a library exhibit and returns it to the wild. He goes into auctions, looting, and museums where relics are housed, away from where they came from, hmm, what to do? He visits collectors. With commercial development burial sites continue to be dug up, attempts are made to locate tribes and return remains. Swear. Insightful, cause to ponder what is right thing to do?

This was a good tale and I finished the book which I don't do if it's inadequate. He writes with some flair and knows his material. The book gave me pause to reconsider my meager collection of artefacts and gave me an insight to the antiquities trade.

Very interesting look into archeology and the ins and outs of who gets to keep what.Not being madly keen about the subject is why I gave it only 3 stars, and I found his attitude about wanting to leave everything where is was very irritiating.Not everything needs to be kept, true, but without collecting some of these items we would have no idea of history or how things worked back then.