[meteorite-list] Treasure Hunters
From: Thaddeus Besedin <endophasy_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Wed Apr 26 10:21:59 2006 Message-ID: <20060426043834.95484.qmail_at_web32806.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Mr. Arnold, I don't mean to sanctimoniously act as everybody's conscience - I have also contributed money to the trade in meteorites by accumulating a collection of small specimens after all, which does to some extent make me a hypocrite. It wasn't your activities and tactics that I was condemning (or at least remonstrating); I condemn the use of the designation "relic hunter," which, at least implicitly, equates the morality of meteorite hunting with the theft of "relics" as a career choice. Do you see how one could be held in the same light as a grave robber, consequently, or conversely, how a grave robber can gain the esteem that you, as a meteorite hunter, have and deserve, especially since you follow the rules and desire to benefit the scientific community? Yes, affected life should pull through - archaeologists also use backhoes to remove overburden and this practice undoubtedly has casualties, not to mention the habitat disturbances of large excavations. My point is that if the public/audience will not see that digging for "arrowheads" is not any different than meteorite prospecting, then people will simply diversify their prospecting, choosing instead to mine the earth of so much "treasure." High context resolution is much less important with meteorites, since their scientific value is primarily contained within them, outside of depth and horizontal distribution, which can be measured with tape and GPS, of course. this is not the case with artifact assemblages, which must be viewed like constellations: an event, a picture may be apparent. Otherwise, we have only a point in the past that has no contemporaries, precursors, and successors. So, I am happy that you are providing samples of soils and other materials to scientists, and I hope that any "soiled loincloths" will find a good C14 laundry basket. Where you are looking is within the regional distribution of Plains Paleoindian (Cody Complex, Goshen, Folsom, etc.) cultural residues (artifacts, faunal remains), although I have no idea if you are in proximity to significant concentrations of these materials, although you do have an excellent chance to find out. These deposits can be several meters deep, after all. So while I accept your work as legitimate, I frown on presentations by the Travel Chanel, which inadvertently promote the casual, undocumented souvenir collecting that has depleted surface deposits of ancient sites popular with tourists. A controlled collecting is what scientists that deal with materials do, after all - it is a necessary step toward analysis and hypothesis falsification. I just wish that more people could understand that the value of archaeological materials is in their contribution to collective knowledge and not in liquidity. -Thaddeus Besedin MeteorHntr_at_aol.com wrote: Hello List and whomever you are that wrote this last email without signing it, I am glad you seem to be as concerned as we are about accumulating as much scientific data as possible on our excavations. It is our hope to find a buffalo skull under one of our Brenhams, or a field mouse, or at least some grass carried to the bottom of the impact pit. The odds of finding a soiled loincloth are pretty slim, but we are looking anyway. So for the last 6 or so digs at Brenham, I have had the Backhoe dig off to the side and deeper than where the meteorite target is, then slowly he moves over to where the specimen is at in situ. Then when we reach it, we dig out above it so that we can get beside it and lift it up preserving the soil beneath it with the imprint of the rock just removed. We are then able to get samples of the soil for age dating and possibly other research that guys in white lab coats might be interested in. I am not sure if the Travel Channel will explain why we were digging the way we were. That part might actually get included in the final production, or it might get cut to the editing room floor. But even if they don't show it, or explain it, the samples are being taken. By the way, what is your name? I'm justifiably and unassailably an enemy of the irresponsible, counterscientific, hobbyist lack of email signatures glorified by certain people and uncritically tolerated by others (accomplices). Ex Astra, Steve Arnold www.BrenhamMeteoriteCompany.com In a message dated 4/25/2006 7:37:32 P.M. Central Standard Time, endophasy_at_yahoo.com writes: Oh great - another glorification of looting (relic hunting)! Do Any of the Brenham pits get at least a cursory record of their possible prehistoric components? I'm justifiably and unassailably an enemy of the irresponsible, counterscientific, hobbyist attitudes glorified by certain people and uncritically tolerated by others (accomplices). No, we don't need degrees to collect lumps of asteroids, planets, and comets, but a bit of respect for irreplacable biological taxa and cultural residues would make us more than drooling, avaricious freebooters. Ruben Garcia wrote: Hi all, We had a great time filming an episode of "Cash and Treasure". A new series on the Travel Channel that will air in early 2007. Each show will be an hour long and will feature various types of treasure hunting. >From gold prospecting to relic hunting to meteorites, it should be great. Our half of the one hour show will feature Geoff Notkin, Mike Miller, Sonney Clary, Keith Jenkerson and Myself. It will detail a recent Glorieta Mountain hunting trip where we found on and off camera 12 Glorieta "Gems" by 3:30 p.m. and 16 total for the day! The second half of the show will spotlight Steve Arnold along with Geoff Notkin finding meteorites in the Brenham strewn field that most of us only dream of. This show is unique in that they insisted that nothing be staged or set-up. Everything was real! There was no planting meteorites, we were asked to just go and see what we could do. I think most of us were pleased to come up with what we did. The specimens were small averaging only about 10 or 12 grams each. But as anyone who has ever hunted Glorieta knows, one could walk for days and never get close to these extra-terrestrial gems. Check out some of the pictures: Geoff, Mike, Sonny, Keith, Me before the cameras rolled http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/meteoritemall/detail?.dir=e579re2&.dnm=e3f1re2.j pg&.src=ph Keep Out! http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/meteoritemall/detail?.dir=e579re2&.dnm=b500re2.j pg&.src=ph Me and Becky(host of the show) finding the first glorieta meteorite on camera! http://pg.photos .yahoo.com/ph/meteoritemall/detail?.dir=e579re2&.dnm=91d2re2.jpg&.src=ph http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/meteoritemall/detail?.dir=e579re2&.dnm=2787re2.j pg&.src=ph Mike, Sonny, Ruben, Geoff and Luke the "camera man" http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/meteoritemall/detail?.dir=5c0bre2&.dnm=8f57re2.j pg&.src=ph Me and Geoff http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/meteoritemall/detail?.dir=5c0bre2&.dnm=8267re2.j pg&.src=ph Our finds by 3:30 pm http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/meteoritemall/detail?.dir=e579re2&.dnm=3c1bre2.j pg&.src=ph Ruben Garcia __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! 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