Lay of the Land

Making Good Use of Technology

Modern technologies can be both a boon and a bane to archaeology. In this issue we tackle the benefits and problems presented by modern metal detectors. When properly used, they can help archaeologists map a site and identify what is far underneath the ground without the need to dig. Archaeologists are making good use of this technology to better understand battlefields, for example, even to the point of being able to actually map the battle itself (see “Archaeology Goes to War,” American Archaeology, summer 2001).

But the new metal detectors are so good that looters are making use of them to find metal objects on important archaeological sites that heretofore were beyond their reach, and this is causing increasing problems around the country. Hobbyists are also lobbying for a relaxation of rules protecting parks and other public property. The vast majority of metal detector users are merely pursuing a harmless hobby, but the few who turn to artifact looting are doing lots of damage.

Archaeologists need to work with the legitimate hobbyists to devise rules that protect cultural resources while permitting the hobby to flourish. Getting hobbyists involved with serious archaeological in-

MARK MICHEL, President

vestigations is just one way to bridge this gap, and working together to write sensible rules for metal detector use is another.