The beauty of this sub is that downvotes are not an option and it was started by archaeologists who understand natural curiousity and who seem to understand that (as one local archaeologist once said and who I've never met but have the utmost respect for) "you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar". You might not agree with other people's choices like pirating movies/music, prostitution, abortion, drugs, actually enjoying rap or heavy metal music, and any number of other things, people make their own choices and it's just going to keep on happening if things continue to go the way they've been going. It's better to be civil, polite, and respectful (even if/when you don't agree) because you'll learn and grow a lot more than if you're abrasive and set yourself up as intolerant of what you don't agree with.

Have you seen my posts? They're actually pretty similar, though I'm the only person I know of around here who saves and loves even the brokes, who hasn't sold a damn thing, and who knaps arrowheads with no intention of ever making arti-fakes to sell for profit (even if I got good enough at knapping to be able to). I'm in a great area for hunting arrowheads and a really bad area for looters. Just within a mile of my house, I've seen 6 different rock shelters that have arrowheads under them (all legally and with permission. There are others that I've seen from a distance and I bet I'd find arrowheads under, but the owners said "no" and I took "no" for an answer, so it's still just those who see and don't ask permission who are digging those spots). I repeat, this is just within a mile of my house. How many of these spots would ever stand a realistic chance of getting the interest and funding for an excavation by professionals before the looters rip them up? The best of these that has seen the least amount of destruction is my newest spot and I have exclusive rights because I'm the only one who asked. The shelter is close to his house and his family and that's his main concern. What I get is what I find. What he gets is a human pit bull who can and will catch or at least scare off the trespassers.

To find good company and good people who see more than dollar signs when they think of arrowheads I have to go online to this subreddit and the other forum that I'm a member of. I respect your profession, appreciate your perspective, and wish some of you guys could be "a fly on the wall" for some of the conversations I've had with arrowhead hunters around here (just to get a little of my perspective), though I think many in your profession wouldn't be able to handle it and keep your cool in the same situations and conversations. Just today on lunch break at work we got on the topic of arrowheads when someone asked what I did this weekend. I said I went arrowhead digging and found 6 and they were just crude points and nothing all that exceptional. One older girl who lives out in Fentress county talked a little in turn about a shelter where her friends dug and found human bones and covered them back up real quick. One older guy who was present said "so where was this at?" and it was said without saying that he's fine with digging a burial (not surprising. Many people around here are). His lunch break ended earlier than ours and when he left I said to the others (bear in mind, this is a big company with hundreds of employees and I still don't know most of these people's names) "To each their own, but fuck that! I know you'll probably find some nice stuff if you dig a burial but I don't do that and I don't need to either. I've heard of people finding human bones but I never have, I hope I never do, and I've found some really cool stuff regardless." This is Tennessee and this isn't an uncommon conversation. It's like throwing around the word "nigger". It's a dirty, ugly, nasty thing to throw out there and many will do it for the same reason that those who think it's nasty will fall silent. There's a lot of people around here who hate black people and a lot of people who have no respect for the dead. I'm not from around here and that's obvious. Around here I seem to be alone in my perspective of this hobby, and I AM that fly on the wall, but what good does it do? There ARE some good relations between some archaeologists and some advocationalists, but those are mostly "off the record" and most of the public and widespread articles I see are really bad PR that only foster paranoia and distrust. I know and obey the law, but because I'm not an archaeologist, I'm publicly portrayed as a bad guy even for digging on my own property (because I'm digging for arrowheads. It seems like if I was destroying the same spot to make a parking lot it would be alright). It's a mess, man. I'm sorry for talking so much and giving so much to read. I just want you to know that even though I dig, I'm not a bad guy and I'm doing what I can to make a difference in my community and I hope you're willing to do the same in yours.