News-N-Views
Reports and Commentaries on Issues That Affect the Hobby by Mark Schuessler
Archaeologist Arrested For Artifact Theft; Charges Dropped In Exchange For Testimony March 2, 2011, New Mexico: The U.S. Attorneys office in New Mexico said that Professor Daniel Amick, one of two archaeologists in the anthropology department at Loyola University in Chicago, plead guilty to violating the Archaeological Resources Protection Act by removing 17 artifacts from public lands in New Mexico. He entered into a plea deal in which he promised to return the artifacts and help investigators track down others. There were two other men implicated in the investigation. One was described as an arrowhead hunter who would locate items in the Jornada Del Muerto area. He would plot the items location with a GPS and would share the info with Amick. The second person’s role was not divulged in Amicks court documents. If Amick keeps to the terms of his probation, the judge has agreed to drop the charge, Amick’s attorney said. “The judge is saying that Dr. Amick made a mistake. As it was associated with research, he agreed to drop the charges,” attorney Douglas McNabb said. “He won’t have a record.” Amick’s actions were driven by academic pursuit and had he applied for a research permit he would have been granted one, according to McNabb. Johna Hutira, a member of the Society of American Archaeology, made the following statement; “It’s a short jump from a person removing artifacts to wholesale looting. These kinds of allegations are troubling for archaeologists.” Have you choked on your coffee yet? I bet they are troubling. One of their own has been caught in their own trap. The mindset here is that the elite can do whatever they want. ARPA does not apply to them. On the rare occasion that one is actually caught doing what they freely do all the time, they get a pass. Amick is part of the privileged elite. He clearly broke the law, but gets off with a slap on the hand. If an archaeologist digs a relic in violation of the law it’s a “mistake.” If someone outside of the archeological elite does it, it’s looting! Can someone tell me the difference? The irony of all this is that the roots of archaeology are not in studying history. It’s in collecting, along with grave and tomb robbing. Don’t take my
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2012 American Digger Magazine Sampler ®
word for it; do some research on the history of archaeology. By the way, although this happened in 2011, it was not widely publicized at the time, and was only recently discovered by this columnist. Now let’s look at what happens when the average citizen is charged under the same law. They are prosecuted, fined heavily, imprisoned, and their equipment and vehicles forfeited. Their name is all over the national news with every elitist archaeologist chiming in on what a scoundrel the person is and how they have done so much damage to the historical record. See any double standard or inconsistencies here? If you ever find yourself in that situation, just tell them it is for research. Maybe we can even find an online course in archaeology. Then we can just show our archeology card and it’s all fine. Do you think the guy who was supplying information to this professor will be given the same deal? After all, he was helping the professor with his research. A couple of years back, a government sting operation took place involving artifact collectors and dealers in the western states. You may have heard about this in the media outlets. Two dozen people were indicted. What you probably did not hear about was the implications that archaeologists, park rangers, and park employees were also involved. A federal informant visited collectors and dealers to gather evidence. One such meeting with an artifact dealer revealed that the dealer had been purchasing items for many years from both federal and state archaeologists, park rangers, and other federal and state employees. Many were items that had been collected from government properties and even sanctioned archaeological digs. A Bureau of Land Management agent stated that the artifact dealer told the informant that he gets stuff from archaeologists all the time. Specific people were named by the dealer. The official stance from the heads of various agencies and archaeological staffs is that they are unaware of any employees violating the laws. They just could not believe that anyone in their circle would do that. One of the people implicated was a former and now deceased Utah State archaeologist. The present state archaeologist, Kevin Jones, has expressed concern that the allegations could cast doubt on his profession’s legitimacy. Really? Caught red handed and you think it might cast doubt? Jones said he intends to find out how an artifact from a 1979 dig made its way to the black market. I think we both know, although the “black market” part of his comment is way off base, implying that any trade in artifacts is somehow illegal. Bill Lipe, a former research director at Crow Canyon Archaeological Center, said that archaeologists should never own artifacts or promote the private market. He also said that it is legal to collect artifacts from private land but it is not ethical. Who Keep up with legal issues, subscribe and read the News-n-Views column in every issue!