When does grave robbing turn to archaeology?

Question

i think the question is self explanatory...they arrest people for digging up bodies if they haven't been in the ground long enough....are archaeologists above the law? shouldn't they just leave the dead alone?...

Answer 1

As many people have pointed out, the end goals of "grave robbing" and archaeology are vastly different.  Grave robbers dig for profit and care little about the people they are disturbing.  Modern archaeologists most frequently dig in order to obtain data and try to conduct their excavations in such a way as to be respectful of the bodies, the grave, the information that can be obtained, and the known cultural traditions (if they are known) of the individual concerned.  

A number of people have pointed out the NAGPRA laws in the United States.  Other nations have similar laws regarding when human remains can be excavated, how they are to be treated, what research can or cannot be done, etc.  Archaeologists don't just simply pick a spot to start digging - there are procedures and laws in place to regulate our activities, so we are not "above the law."

It's probably worth noting that in many cases cemeteries or individual graves are excavated as part of salvage excavations carried out before major construction projects or in other circumstances when cemeteries and other sites will be destroyed or greatly disturbed.  Would it be better to leave the graves to be run over by back-hoes?  Or to have an apartment building or shopping mall built over them?   And, in many cases, archaeologists avoid excavating human remains if they can do so.  

Depending on the culture under consideration, it isn't always "disrespectful" to disturb the dead, which is something I suggest you keep in mind.  In those cases when it is, every effort is usually made to conduct research with sensitivity to the descendants of the dead.

Answer 2

I certainly don't like the thought of my loved ones being dug up thousands of years from now just so the people from that era can add more insignificant and false data to their scientific knowledge.I wonder if their dating methods will say we lived millions of years ago instead of thousands?

Answer 3

Do your research.

Archaeologists, in America anyway, are strictly limited by the law if they find human remains, no matter their age. So no, archaeologists are not above the law. Aside from that, archaeologists have vastly different motives than grave robbers. There is the occasional corrupt archaeologist, but you know what they say about bad apples.

Answer 4

Digging up remains of people from ancient civilizations other than western ones is archeology. Digging up remains of people  from ancient western civilizations is grave robbing. I'm sorry this may sound racist, but if you think hard it seems to be true. How often do you find remains of people from western civilizations? Not often, in most museums you find remains of people from Asian civilizations, Egypt, Africa, and places like that. For example, at UCLA, one of their research buildings holds the remains of around twenty Native American remains in the name of research. Those "archaeologists"  dug them up in the name of research. How come you don't see them digging up the remains of white settlers that lived in California one hundred years ago in the name of research?

Think about it.

Answer 5

You make an excellant point, they should leave the dead alone, but archaeologists have different goals then graverobbers. they aren't in it for the money in the grave, they are there to learn about what it was like back when that person might have lived, therefore learning more about that person's society, therefore learning about human history; whereas a graverobber just wants to get the "goods" and get out of there.  Also, graverobbers tend to not care about that person, whereas an archaeologist respects the person and treats them and their valuables accordingly.

Maybe next time keep your question a little less closed-ended, and try to keep an open mind, even when you find it difficult.  :-)

Answer 6

well, if popular culture is anything to go byarchaeologist are grave robbers! well Indiana Jones and Lara Croft.

in the real world archaeologist are interested and respect the people they excavate, interesed in definingthe features cut, its fill, studying the skeleton... ... and eventually reburying the individual (this happended recently in London, where a Roman Girl had a high profile funeral)

The only problem is how we bury them and with what belives we bury them under!

Gary

Answer 7

What a great question! I think the difference is in the intention. A grave robber robs, an archaeologist studies. Thanks for making me think!

Answer 8

Grave robbing turns into archaeology when its legal and done for scientific knowledge and not to provide corpses for medical school or some archane religious rituals.

Answer 9

Grave robbing and archaeology are conducted in vastly different ways and they serve vastly different purposes. Grave robbers generally loot in order to turn a profit on their culture's history. There is no provenance or context to an object once it has been looted, meaning it has been rendered useless to archaeologists.

Archaeologists carefully record find-spots and try, to the best of their abilities, to minimize damage to the site. Their purpose is to gain information, not to gain a shiny object. In fact many archaeologists study things like diet and trade routes, which have little to do with graves. (For example, I'm currently digging up fish bones, lithics, and shell pieces from a Chumash site.) These types of research can hardly be deemed unethical.

Basically modern archaeologists are not Indiana Jones. They care about context. And they usually don't fight n***s.

Answer 10

Grave robbing never turns to archaeology.  It is against the law.  However there are specific circumstances concerning burials and archaeologist.  If at an archaeological excavation and archaeologists come across human remain or an intact pot (which is associated with burials) they must stop immediately and contact the local American Indian tribe who will determine what they want to do with the burial.  In some cases, the burial will be left alone and other times it will be removed and then reburied elsewhere.  There are some instances where archaeologists must retrieve burial remains from a site if, for example, there is no way to prevent construction in the area that will destroy the remains.  In addition, there is also salvage archaeology, which my employer participated in, where archaeologists retrieve unearthed remains on federal or state property and then turned over to the local tribe. However, in this particular instance the remains predated the local tribe by over 1000 years and so the remains were in trusted to the state government for preservation.  At this particular site, other burials have been discovered and removed, but it is known that there are other burials in the area but they will not be removed unless they are uncovered by natural means.  In this case, the remains were on an uncovered lake-bed.  Anyone who deliberately unearths burial remains without the consent of the local tribe is breaking federal and state laws, which are punishable by imprisonment and a fine.

Check out NAGPRA at www.cr.nps.gov/laws for more information.