Ask an Archaeologist # 1

At the 2016 HITS Expo that was held for the combined Charles County History Day and Science Fair, anyone stopping at the CCASM table was encouraged to put a question into the CCASM "Ask an Archaeologist" box.  The answers will be appearing over the next weeks as blog postings starting with this one.

?      Is it okay to not collect artifacts?

Archaeologists collect artifacts, recording locations and associated artifacts and soils, to answer research questions.  If we do not have a question to ask, we don't collect the artifact, just information on its location.  Artifacts, once collected, have to be stored and cared for, and that costs money.  It requires a commitment.  Amateur archaeologists and casual artifact collectors have different needs and interests.  As a professional archaeologist concerned with caring for artifacts so that we can study them now, and into the future, I don't encourage collecting.  I'd prefer that people who are interested in the past work with me and other archaeologists in the region to carefully collect and analyze materials from sites for which we have research questions.  Even then, we only sample sites, collecting only as much material as is necessary to answer our questions.  If new questions arise out of those answers, then we may have a reason to go back to a site and collect additional material.

Answer provided by Dr. James Gibb

Look for future postings with answers to additional questions.