The Story: Part Three

When historians look back at the history of archaeology in the late twentieth century, they will be struck by a tragic irony. The seventies and eighties were the decades when archaeologists finally developed the scientific technology to attack fundamental questions about the past. Yet the same scientists were powerless to stem the tidal wave of destruction that swept away the very data they could now study to its full potential.

The only bright side of the Slack Farm affair is the public outcry aroused locally by the looting. This protest led to new state legislation in Kentucky, which now makes it a felony to desecrate a human grave, regardless of the race or antiquity of the person buried. Yet, in Indiana similar legislative efforts failed. In surrounding states, no one is tackling the legal, ethical and archaeological problem of site vandalism.

It's not making front page headlines, but looting on the scale of Slack Farm is commonplace in nearly every state-from the Bering Strait to the U.S. Virgin Islands, especially on private lands. The fact is that we and our friends are not making enough noise about this insidious scandal society tolerates in its midst. No one else is going to do it for us, so we had better raise our voices very loudly before it is too late.

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