[meteorite-list] Acquiring Meteorites from a Treasure Hunter's Point of View

From: Adam Hupe <raremeteorites_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Sat May 20 12:51:49 2006
Message-ID: <01fd01c67c2d$a892bfc0$6401a8c0_at_c1720188a>

Acquiring Meteorites from a Treasure Hunter's Point of View

Dear List,

I may look at things differently because I entered meteoritics from an
unconventional angle. I first learned that they were considered treasure by
reading an article in an international magazine devoted to the subject. I
have been actively treasure hunting since 1975 when our father gave my
brother and I our first metal detector. We were taken to centuries old
buildings on the East Coast after seeking permission and found all kinds of
relics, all of which we donated to museums after being encourage that this
was the proper thing to do. A silver bracelet lost for two centuries with a
girl's first and last name on it comes to mind. It was among our first
finds and meant a lot more to the museum that was able to reference this
person to a girl's seminary were it was found than to us. I imagine the
monetary value would have been very little. In other words, we learned early
that the hunt was just as important as the disposition of the object. We
feel it was a fair trade, the memories of the hunt in exchange for
permission to search.

Treasure hunting during the 70s was looked at with disgust by most
academics. Most thought of it as little more than robbing our country of
it's national heritage. Treasure hunters were cast in such a bad light that
a lot would not openly admit that this was their primary hobby. This image
came about because of the bad actions of a few. Public places were being
shut down to hunting one after another until the hobby almost died. Only
after a Code of Ethics was established and hunters found that it was better
to follow the rules did things start looking up for the hobby as a whole.
Hunters were encouraged to cover their holes, only search places that were
legal, always seek permission to search private property, obtain permits for
places that required it, abide by all laws governing lands whether local or
international and leave the property in better condition than when you
entered it. Hunters even began to pick up others trash, remove rusty nails
and glass when found. They offered to assist law enforcement agencies
trying to recover evidence. They worked with archeologist on digs instead
of seeing them as competitors. Slowly things got better and now the image
as been elevated to healthy hobby status that the whole family can enjoy.

I recall talking at a Treasure Hunting club meeting about an old cache of
coins I found in shallow water which was featured in Western and Eastern
Treasures. A new club member came in after the talk, all excited about a
small cannon he had found. He was asked about the details of the find. He
then bragged about going out in the middle of the night to an old historic
fort site and making the recovery without being caught. For some reason he
thought this would impress club members. Instead he was encouraged to turn
himself in because this would reflect badly on the club. He wouldn't turn
himself in so the chair did. The club was rewarded for doing the right
thing by being invited to work with historians on legal hunts. The point is,
there are plenty of legal places left to search for treasure because the
hobby has cleaned itself up. Treasure hunters may not agree with all of the
laws but by working with the system a lot more areas are now open to
hunting, although a permit may be required.

Rewarding bad behavior is counterproductive. Working independently without
structure did not work for treasure hunting as a hobby and will not work for
the avocation of meteorite hunting, in my opinion. Seeking cooperation with
private landowners, agencies and governments is the only thing that will
guarantee a healthy future for hunting meteorites as a hobby or
professionally.

For those who are interested, here is a link to the Treasure Hunter Code of
Ethics:

http://www.treasurenet.com/misc/code.html

My thoughts on meteorite recovery from a treasure hunting standpoint,

Adam
Received on Sat 20 May 2006 12:51:35 PM PDT