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Re: Third caught relic hunter gets 2 years
Gentlemen:
To those who think these penalties excessive, a google search turned up a bit more information:
a. These guys dug 450 holes in that section of the battlefield and had 200 dug items with them when they were arrested. The Park Service has stated that the amount of damage has now permanently destroyed our ability to interpret that section of the battlefield. (Baltimore Civil War Roundtable newsletter)
b. Jeremy Burroughs was convicted of a felony under the same act in the 1990s, while digging on National Battlefield land. (Civil War News)
c. Fenton Terembes, Jr. was additionally charged with a) making false statements and b) being a convicted felon in possession of ammunition. (Civil War News)
d. The two juveniles who were mentioned in the associated story were arrested after making 80 holes and having 20 dug items with them. (Civil War News).
I'm not an archeologist, though I have enjoyed learning from them things that I wouldn't have known otherwise. My understanding is that through an archeological examination of an area of battlefield it is sometimes possible to tell which units were present on that part of the battlefield, the angle of the attack, direction of attack and how far the attack ranged. Probably a bunch more information as well. But that is if the items are studied in the context of the ground surrounding them. When the items are dug up without this type of study, that information is lost forever.
As someone who studies socks, ithe context and history of a sock is often more important than the sock itself. I can learn quite a bit about how the sock was constructed by studying the socks. If someone has recorded who made the sock, when, under what circumstances, that adds quite a bit of information to my work. Trust me, there are quite a few socks out there that are labelled "old sock." And that's all we know about the item.
To give an extreme example, in the Museum of the Confederacy, thery have a half-finished sock still on the needles that Mrs. Robert E. Lee was working on when she got news that the Army of Northern Virginia had surrendered. Without the additional provenance, it would still be an interesting, well-made partial sock. With the knowledge of who made it and the time period, it can tell us much more. Since she mostly made socks for the General before the war, and knitters tend to prefer to make the same sock over and over again, I can speculate that I"m now know how far up his leg General Lee liked to have his socks. If I were to find an earlier sock that she made, I could compare the two and speculate on whether her eyesight was poorer, perhaps wonder if her famous arthritis was also affecting her hands by 1865, a lot of interesting stuff. Without that context, it's only a partly made sock.
Personally, I don't study dug items as items -- bullets, belt buckles, etc. But I"m sure there is someone out there who does, and who might have gotten valuable information from being able to know that these particular bullets or buttons or belt buckles were found at this particular depth or in this particular direction. Now we'll never know that information.
One of the things I really enjoy is walking battlefields with a knowledgable guide (whether a friend or a paid professional) or a good guidebook. Some of the information we have about battles comes from the work of archeologists who are able to uncover this infomration in that particular context. I can only do that because of the work of many, many people over the years who have worked to study the movement of the battles, mapped where things happened (before trees and erosion change the shape of the battlefield), did archeological digs, wrote all of this down, published it and preserved the ground, so that I can read and walk in the same places they did.
Personally, you're the only folks I know who do metal detecting. I'm pleased that there can be at least some partnerships with the National Park Service historians to uncover more of the secrets that the battlefields hold for us. From my perspective, the majority of those secrets are not in the individual items, but much more in where they are, and at what depth they are, etc.
When people break laws to remove those items, and tear up earthworks and battlefield to do it, in my eyes the greater loss is not the buttons or buckles that got taken, but the digging, which permanently damages any possibility of amateur or professional historians from studying what happened on that particular foot of battlefield.
Another personal belief is that nowadays people are much quicker to complain than they are to appreciate someone doing a difficult job. I try to spread a little appreciation around when I can.
I don't have the skills to uncover who the prosecuting attorney or the judge were in this case. But I've had more knowledable people send me the information to enable us to can send a note of appreciation to the Spotsylvania Park staff.
Send a letter to:
Russ Smith, Superintendent
Fredericksburg & Spotsylvania NMP
120 Chatham Lane
Fredericksburg, VA 22405
In these tough monetary times, a donation of funds, however small would probably be welcome also.
My two cents, your opinions may vary,
Karin Timour
Period Knitting -- Socks, Sleeping Hats, Balaclavas
Come see me Remembrance Saturday at Chris Daley's store.
Atlantic Guard Soldiers' Aid Society
Email: Ktimour@aol.com
Gentlemen:
To those who think these penalties excessive, a google search turned up a bit more information:
a. These guys dug 450 holes in that section of the battlefield and had 200 dug items with them when they were arrested. The Park Service has stated that the amount of damage has now permanently destroyed our ability to interpret that section of the battlefield. (Baltimore Civil War Roundtable newsletter)
b. Jeremy Burroughs was convicted of a felony under the same act in the 1990s, while digging on National Battlefield land. (Civil War News)
c. Fenton Terembes, Jr. was additionally charged with a) making false statements and b) being a convicted felon in possession of ammunition. (Civil War News)
d. The two juveniles who were mentioned in the associated story were arrested after making 80 holes and having 20 dug items with them. (Civil War News).
I'm not an archeologist, though I have enjoyed learning from them things that I wouldn't have known otherwise. My understanding is that through an archeological examination of an area of battlefield it is sometimes possible to tell which units were present on that part of the battlefield, the angle of the attack, direction of attack and how far the attack ranged. Probably a bunch more information as well. But that is if the items are studied in the context of the ground surrounding them. When the items are dug up without this type of study, that information is lost forever.
As someone who studies socks, ithe context and history of a sock is often more important than the sock itself. I can learn quite a bit about how the sock was constructed by studying the socks. If someone has recorded who made the sock, when, under what circumstances, that adds quite a bit of information to my work. Trust me, there are quite a few socks out there that are labelled "old sock." And that's all we know about the item.
To give an extreme example, in the Museum of the Confederacy, thery have a half-finished sock still on the needles that Mrs. Robert E. Lee was working on when she got news that the Army of Northern Virginia had surrendered. Without the additional provenance, it would still be an interesting, well-made partial sock. With the knowledge of who made it and the time period, it can tell us much more. Since she mostly made socks for the General before the war, and knitters tend to prefer to make the same sock over and over again, I can speculate that I"m now know how far up his leg General Lee liked to have his socks. If I were to find an earlier sock that she made, I could compare the two and speculate on whether her eyesight was poorer, perhaps wonder if her famous arthritis was also affecting her hands by 1865, a lot of interesting stuff. Without that context, it's only a partly made sock.
Personally, I don't study dug items as items -- bullets, belt buckles, etc. But I"m sure there is someone out there who does, and who might have gotten valuable information from being able to know that these particular bullets or buttons or belt buckles were found at this particular depth or in this particular direction. Now we'll never know that information.
One of the things I really enjoy is walking battlefields with a knowledgable guide (whether a friend or a paid professional) or a good guidebook. Some of the information we have about battles comes from the work of archeologists who are able to uncover this infomration in that particular context. I can only do that because of the work of many, many people over the years who have worked to study the movement of the battles, mapped where things happened (before trees and erosion change the shape of the battlefield), did archeological digs, wrote all of this down, published it and preserved the ground, so that I can read and walk in the same places they did.
Personally, you're the only folks I know who do metal detecting. I'm pleased that there can be at least some partnerships with the National Park Service historians to uncover more of the secrets that the battlefields hold for us. From my perspective, the majority of those secrets are not in the individual items, but much more in where they are, and at what depth they are, etc.
When people break laws to remove those items, and tear up earthworks and battlefield to do it, in my eyes the greater loss is not the buttons or buckles that got taken, but the digging, which permanently damages any possibility of amateur or professional historians from studying what happened on that particular foot of battlefield.
Another personal belief is that nowadays people are much quicker to complain than they are to appreciate someone doing a difficult job. I try to spread a little appreciation around when I can.
I don't have the skills to uncover who the prosecuting attorney or the judge were in this case. But I've had more knowledable people send me the information to enable us to can send a note of appreciation to the Spotsylvania Park staff.
Send a letter to:
Russ Smith, Superintendent
Fredericksburg & Spotsylvania NMP
120 Chatham Lane
Fredericksburg, VA 22405
In these tough monetary times, a donation of funds, however small would probably be welcome also.
My two cents, your opinions may vary,
Karin Timour
Period Knitting -- Socks, Sleeping Hats, Balaclavas
Come see me Remembrance Saturday at Chris Daley's store.
Atlantic Guard Soldiers' Aid Society
Email: Ktimour@aol.com
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