So yesterday there were some Hot Takes(TM) regarding individuals collecting projectile points in a field. I don't know all the details, so I'm going to not talk specifics, but I do want to address some issues and misconceptions I saw this morning.... (A thread.)

This is meant primarily for those archaeologists who, unfortunately, are not fully aware of the legalities. This isn't meant to shame anyone, but there's a lot of misinformation out there on this topic (even among PhDs), so I'd like to clear things up to the degree I can.

First, in most US states (I don't even know if the collecting people are talking about occurred in the US, it may have been in Canada, but I'm going to talk to US folks here) collecting is absolutely LEGAL as long as you have landowner permission...

In fact, there are quite a few states where it is LEGAL to collect human remains, regardless of ethnicity, as long as you have permission (I'll give you a chance to guess which states)...

In the US, federal legislation such as NAGPRA and ARPA do not apply to artifacts obtained legally from non-federal lands. In other words, I can dig up a privately owned site, destroy it, and sell its artifacts, and it will be legal as long as I follow relevant laws...

It's those "relevant laws" that is the key here. They include state and local laws. If you don't like what I just said (and I hope you don't), then you need to read what your local laws are. If you don't like those laws, then you need to lobby your local and state legislators...

To change those laws to more fully protect the archaeological resources.

To paraphrase a great politician, "don't boo, lobby." If you don't like this current situation, educate yourself and contact your Reps. Change will be much easier at the local and state level, so begin to work towards that change at those levels.

The text of ARPA can be found at https://www.nps.gov/history/local-law/fhpl_archrsrcsprot.pdf; NAGPRA at https://www.nps.gov/history/local-law/FHPL_NAGPRA.pdf; Antiquities Act at https://www.nps.gov/history/local-law/FHPL_AntiAct.pdf; NHPA at https://www.nps.gov/history/local-law/FHPL_HistPrsrvt.pdf; and AHPA at https://www.nps.gov/history/local-law/FHPL_ArchHistPres.pdf

These are the text of the laws, not the regulations. Certain laws authorize the promulgation of regulations. Both are important. (Laws say what need to be done; regs say how it's done.) Learn both.

For those students who may be reading this (hell, for those professors, too): please, please, please learn this material. This will impact and guide much of the work you will do professionally....

The vast majority of you will end up in CRM, not in academia. PLEASE LEARN THE RELEVANT LAWS AND REGULATIONS. This includes those at the state level.

Anyways, I'm done. If you're a student, I welcome questions. (DMs are open.)