[meteorite-list] Misinformation in Meteorite Times Magazine/Nevada Picture of the day/ unreported Nevada meteorites

From: Thaddeus Besedin <endophasy_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Tue, 13 Mar 2007 23:14:39 -0700 (PDT)
Message-ID: <648847.71269.qm_at_web62507.mail.re1.yahoo.com>

Adam,
  "Antique" applies to cultural artifacts, and artifacts represent sites - places - often without surviving architecture, so must be treated like components of an architecture of events;often, lithics (flaked/ground tools and production waste) and ceramics are the only record of the life of humans in North America and their astonishing survival in extreme environments without the conveniences that we enjoy, which today permit uncontrolled collection for personal gain and vulgar trophies, so should only be removed if threatened, with an interest in dedicated research, and with positional control - as well as permission. These artifacts are not treasure in the commercial sense; we would not remove marble columns from Greek ruins, or stelae from an Egyptian temple.
  -Thaddeus
  

Adam Hupe <raremeteorites at yahoo.com> wrote:
  
Dear List,

I can understand the reluctance to report meteorite
finds in the Mojave with such gray areas in the law
surrounding the finds. You can talk to ten different
authorities and get ten different answers. A big part
of the problem is that there are several overlapping
laws, both state and federal that do not seem to
address meteorites directly. There is the other
problem that some groups make up junk to scare off
other hunters. Here are some terms that I find
ambiguous at best:

Antique - anything over 100 years old. This would
apply to water which was brought here by comets
billions a years ago or vitually any mineral unless
you are searching near an active valcano.

Of scientific value - This could apply to dog crap in
some circumstances.

For non-commercial purposes - This makes sense to me
but what happens to the 250 pounds a year of minerals
that were pulled from federal land for non-commercial
purposes that were deemed legal when somebody passes
on? What if the finders offspring has no interest in
collecting meteorites and wants to sell them? I was
also told that federal agents do monitor eBay for
hunters selling Mojave meteorites for commercial
purposes. I have no problem with this since I keep
all of my finds regardless of what type of treasure
hunting I am involved with. The only exception is to
return a lost piece of jewelry if the rightful owner
can be found or when something has historic value, in
which case, I will turn it over to a museum. I have
been treasure hunting for 32 years and feel it is
better to work with authorities whenever possible.
Luckily the treasure hunting community has a code of
ethics that saved the hobby which almost went extinct
in the 70s because of property abuses.

Artifact - I agree that Native American artifacts
should be left alone in designated areas, it simply is
not worth the consequences of removal. Not only that,
they represent very little value to the finder who
will probably ending up throwing them in a box and
forgetting about them. In this case, I find the hunt
to be more exciting than the acquisition. I know it
is difficult not to pick up points or shards of
pottery when encountered (I know first hand) but feel
it would be better to take images of them next to a
GPS and report them. After all, the main fun is in the
hunt and most of us are after meteorites which are
legal to bring out under most circumstances, up to 250
pounds a year if you are lucky. I feel it is better to
call ahead and find out what laws govern certain areas
before hunting. I found out last week, it is illegal
to carry a magnet on a stick into a designated site
containing artifacts in California. I was told this
while getting a permit to legally enter and camp on
Ivanpah.

I know a lot of these laws are being twisted to govern
meteorites, were written for minerals and have only
been enforced once in regards to meteorites but feel
it would be better to operate in a open environment
until these laws can be challenged in Federal or
Supreme Court to clarify them.

Best Regards,

Adam



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Received on Wed 14 Mar 2007 02:14:39 AM PDT