An Educational Activity for Home or Classroom

Dilemma 1 | Dilemma 2

Dilemma 1: Metal Detecting and Civil War Sites

The Facts:

1. If you find artifacts, you should immediately tell a local museum or the park or state authorities. Metal detecting on public lands (Federal and often state and local) is against the law. Alexandria has an ordinance prohibiting use of metal detectors on public lands such as parks. If they were found at a grave site, it would be considered desecration of the grave if they were removed.
2. If the artifacts were on private property, they belong to the property owner and it would be stealing if you took them.
3. Removal of artifacts also destroys the context (the whole history or environment relevant to a situation or person) and the stratigraphic record, so that we cannot learn about the history of the site.
4. Most artifacts are valuable in an historic sense only. Our understanding of the past can make today and the future better. Even if you were to find an artifact worth some money, it is still against the law to take it if it was not found on your property. Even if it was found on your own land, would you really want to destroy the chance to learn more about the past on your property? Artifacts tell us the story of the past. If you remove them, it is like having only one sentence from an entire book.

Dilemma 2: A Site in Your Back Yard

The Facts:

1. If you find artifacts, you should immediately tell the owner who should tell a local museum who may investigate. Unless the site is actually threatened, archaeologists would probably choose not to excavate. Artifacts are better preserved in the ground for future generations, since technically, archaeology is a destructive process. Besides, archaeological research should be conducted to meet specific research goals unless a site is threatened with destruction.
2. It is dangerous to dig in old wells. The sides of the well could collapse and you could be hurt or trapped.
3. If the artifacts were on private property, they belong to the property owner and it would be stealing if you took them.
4. Removal of artifacts also destroys the context (the whole history or environment relevant to a situation or person) and the stratigraphic record, so that historic interpretation and reconstruction is not possible. Most artifacts are valuable in an historic sense only. If you removed them, it destroys the chance to learn more about the past.