This spring, I returned to several places where I once found
arrowheads only to find mountains of dirt and fill and new foundations
for new homes. No original ground surface remains. Those sites have been destroyed and are gone forever.
Most of my arrowheads are from southeastern Massachusetts. This
area is being developed at an incredible rate. I realize that at some
point I may see houses going up in every place where I once spent hours
slowly searching for traces of Stone Age man.Last night Dave and I took a short walk by some new foundations in a place that we knew had been documented as a site where artifacts were found in the past. Heaps of fill covered most of the ground and there was only a small area that still looked like the disturbed remnant of what was the original ground surface. Few rocks were visible but Dave spotted this and I was really jealous.
Few archaeologists conduct excavations anymore, preferring to leave sites in the ground for the future. A noble idea- but when the future comes, how many sites will be left?
3 comments :
It is good to let the town Historical Soc. know if you find arrowheads somewhere. Sometimes they are consulted before development projects.
And also to file a site form with the state historical commission. Yes, they have their faults, but at least if they have a site in their inventories they can request a survey in advance of construction in certain cases (in Massachusetts, on projects which involve public lands, public funds, public permits, or burials).
Much of what we do seems headed for oblivion.
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