For all the people that know nothing about archaeological remains- Piecing together pre-history is all about context. The only way to evaluate remains effectively is if they are in tact. Looting and pillaging over the years messes up the context. In a place like the Great Basin lithic evidence is some of the only artifacts remaining, along with fire cracked rock, petropglyphs and rare perishable sites. It is much easier for archaeologists to figure out the potential significance of a site is if it is in tact.
well.... modern farming operations and manifest destiny have pretty much upheaved the stratigraphy of soil horizons. Not every casual flint hound is a 'grave-digger'
few archaelogical academics would have jack [bleep] to go on or govt grant tits to milk if it werent for some weekend enthusiast or a bridge project to alert them to the presence of debitage. Fat chance of that much anymore today. Most savvy people and project mgrs keep a tight lid on word getting out.
