3/11/11 Report - Fort Capron Treasure Coins

Half Reale From Cabin Wreck Being Sold on EBay.

This half-real was found on the Cabin Wreck site and is now listed for sale on eBay. It is a good example of a Treasure Coast cob find.

The current bid is less than $6.00 and it has a reserve that I would guess is way above that.

Here is the link.

http://cgi.ebay.com/1715-Treasure-Fleet-1-2-Reale-Coin-/250785032487?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3a63f3e927

Notice the P mint mark to the left of the Philip monogram.


Did you know that ancient Chinese items are bringing in very high prices these days. It seems that rich Chinese were bit by the collecting bug and are trying to bring Chinese antiquities back to China.

Kovels Komments reports, A cardboard box with six pieces of antique Chinese jade inside was stored in a Florida home's closet for over 30 years. Manor Auctions of Tallahassee recognized the value of the jade collection and offered to auction it. The owners took the jade to others who offered to buy it for $2,000. Manor Auctions offered to buy it for more but recommended that the collection be sold at auction. Good advice. A censer (it is used to burn incense) auctioned for $18,000, a jade teapot for $12,420, a ram for $6,210, and a white jade ship for $57,500. Interested Chinese buyers paid a total of almost $100,000 for the family treasures.


Yesterday I posted a press release from Sedwick Coins that mentioned that coins from the Fort Capron treasure would be sold in the next Sedwick Coins auction. The loss of the payroll is reported in a 10 page article by Carl Clausen in The Florida Historical Quarterly, Vol. 47, No. 1. You might be able to get the full article through the library.

You can see the first page and some good information on the loss through the following link.

http://www.jstor.org/pss/30147407

If you noticed, the article said the fort was opposite the inlet. That is not now the case, because the old inlet is closed and the new Fort Pierce inlet is south of the old inlet.

The above article also refers to silver coins in the first paragraph, but in 1965
two local young boys diving for lobster found a number of gold coins that were thought to be part of the payroll that was lost in 1857. It seems that treasure stories always have some contradictions or missing details.

I'm eager to see the Fort Capron treasure coins that Sedwick has listed in the next auction.

Reminds me of Fort Lauderdale. The old fort was near the old inlet there, which is now closed, and the new inlet is south of where the old inlet was.


Forecast and Conditions.

The wind is out of the northwest this morning. The air is a little cool. It's nice.

The seas are still running three to four feet. I saw no cuts or erosion or anything else that would suggest an improvement in beach conditions.

I was finding copper sheeting in shell piles. One was a nice size and had a couple nail holes in it. Some other metal was also found in shell piles.

I never expect to find cobs in shell piles, but when the shells are large and there are stones in the shell piles, you can often find some neat junk or artifacts there.
Also keep your eyes open for fossils, shards, and Indian points.


Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

3/10/11 Report - Fort Capron & Upcoming Sedwick Coins Auction

Map Showing Location of Fort Capron.

You'll find Fort Capron mentioned below so I thought I'd show you where it was.

Some guys from South Florida detected around that site a number of years ago and found some nice Seminole Indian artifacts.

I'll probably comment on the treasure of Fort Capron in the future.

Here is a link for more information.

http://search.aol.com/aol/afe?query=http%3A%2F%2Fo.aolcdn.com%2Fos%2Fwindoid%2Fcwindoid_2010.html&s_it=DNSERROR


As you may have noticed, I added a survey to the main page of this blog. I haven't used this feature before and am experimenting while collecting data. This particular survey asks what your favorite detector is. You can make your choice and then view the results as votes accumulate. The survey will run a few days and then I'll report of the final tally.

Results after less than a day shows Minelab to be the favorite, but I'm sure there will be a lot more votes coming in, so that might change.

In the future I will conduct surveys on other questions such as what an item might be, or I might ask about reader finds. I'm sure there are other questions that will come up that I haven't even thought of yet.

It will be interesting to learn more about the readers of this blog and what they think. It will also give you chance to weigh in on different issues.

The data will be more meaningful when if a lot of people participate.


The most recent Kovels Komments had a lot of information that I wanted to pass along today.

They gave one example of how experts make mistakes too. They told how an Antiques Roadshow expert was fooled by a fake stock ticker. There are a lot of fakes of every sort out there.

Did you know that it is a crime to sell eagle feathers, some tortoise shells, and body parts of any endangered species even if they are just part of the decoration of another antique item. And firearms, swords, liquor and other things can't be sold in some states without a license.

Kovels Komments reports that an antiques dealer in Massachusetts was sentenced last week to almost three years in prison for selling sperm whale teeth and narwhal tusks. The whale parts were imported between 2001 and 2004,.

You'll often see bones from sea turtles along the Treasure Coast. Seme people don't know what they are and take them, but it is a crime to even possess sea turtle parts.

I don't think you'll get in trouble if you happen to have a bone or two that you picked up not knowing what you had, but it is illegal.


I just received this press release from Sedwick Coins. I'll just post the entire document.

SEDWICK COLLECTION OF COLOMBIAN GOLD TO BE SOLD

Daniel Frank Sedwick, LLC announces their Treasure and World Coin Auction #9, to be held live on the Internet April 26-28, 2011. Individual highlights include several “Hearts” and “Royals” (presentation-issue cobs) from the Mexico, Lima and Potosí mints (dated in the 1600s and 1700s), a Cuzco 1 escudo cob 1698, a Brazil 12800 reis 1730-M, a Chile 2 escudos 1758, and a Cuban proof peso 1915. But most of the trophies in this auction are contained in a single collection of 233 pieces: the Dr. Frank Sedwick collection of Colombian Republic gold coins.

“I have been looking forward to this for years,” says Daniel Sedwick, son of the late Dr. Frank Sedwick and principal of the auction firm. “Selling your own family’s collection presents pressures beyond the norm. The ability to delve into pedigrees and utilize the collector’s personal notes compels us to put out a catalog that will be a reference for well into the future.”

Dr. Sedwick wrote the first definitive book on the complex Colombian Republic gold series (The Gold Coinage of Gran Colombia [1991]) as an outgrowth of two decades of collecting the coins. Along the way he gathered some of the most important coins in the series, all of which will be offered in this auction, including:
• Popayán 8 escudos 1838UR, XF-45, unique, estimated at $15,000.
• Bogotá 20 pesos 1859, AU-50, famous single-year, largest coin of the Confederación Granadina and one of about six known, estimated at $7500.
• Medellín 5 pesos 1863-M, MS-62, estimated at $10,000.
• Full set of Medellín 2-5-10 pesos 1885/74 and 1886/74, sold in individual lots but the only known set in existence, total estimate of $20,000.

In addition to many other rarities, Frank’s collection contains dozens of examples that are the finest known graded by NGC. Each coin in the collection is encapsulated by NGC with the pedigree stated inside the slab.

“But treasure coins are still the biggest part of the auction,” says Sedwick’s assistant Agustín “Augi” Garcia, pointing to a selection of US gold coins from the “Fort Capron treasure” of 1857, several large silver bars and emeralds and over 230 coins from the Atocha (1622), over 130 1715-Fleet cobs from the State of Florida collection (Bamberg division), a collection of more than 40 dated Mexican cob 8 reales, and dozens of top-quality Lima cob 2 reales. Rounding out the auction are significant offerings of general world coins (including ancients), artifacts (including fossils), documents and books (both antiquarian and modern).

Coin lot viewing will take place at Sedwick’s booth at both the Baltimore Coin and Currency Convention (March 31-April 3) and the Chicago International Coin Fair (April 14-17). Catalogs for Sedwick’s Treasure and World Coin Auction #9 will be available around the end of March. For up-to-date information, go to Sedwick’s website at www.sedwickcoins.com.

For registration on iCollector go to: www.iCollector.com/sedwick

To order the catalog send an email: auction@sedwickcoins.com

There will be a lot of good coins and things for study in that auction.


Forecast and Conditions.

Treasure Coast treasure beach detecting conditions remain poor. And it doesn't look like that will change real soon. The wind is now out of the west and relatively calm seas are predicted for the next several days.

Water levels are way down on our rivers and lakes. That is something to consider.


Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcastnet

3/9/11 Report - Sandy Point Wreck Site & Nautilus Shells

Google Earth View of Sandy Point Wreck Site.

Adapt or go the way of the dinosaurs. That is something that was on my mind this morning.

One of the problems with having a lot of experience is that you might tend to fall into old habits instead of continually assessing and reevaluating what you are doing.

You might have found things that worked in the past that aren't working now. And you might have had spots that produced in the past that aren't producing now. That woudn't be at all unusual, especially under the present conditions.

Cuts that looked like the cuts that we recently saw on some of the beaches used to produce but didn't seem to be producing this time. They looked pretty much like the old cuts that used to produce, but there were differences. The recent cuts were much further east and on top of, or out in front of, tons of sand. That is a big difference.

It takes a long-term perspective to realize that. If you have only been detecting for a couple of years, there is no way you could realize that.

I talked about this a little not long ago. One spot might lose sand year after year and be eroded back close to where the sand hasn't been disturbed in at least the last fifty years. If that particular spot eroded, the new cut would have a much better chance of producing old items than a spot that had a much bigger cut but which was cut into sand that has been accumulating over more recent years.

The closer you get to old sand that hasn't been disturbed for a long time, the better the chances are of finding some old items there.

John Brooks beach had a pretty nice looking cut last week, but that cut was in sand that had accumulated over the summer, and was on top of many layers of sand that covered the sand that was exposed back in 2004.

Occasionally a cob or two will fall out of recent cuts like that, but thoe conditions are not nearly as good as a cut in a place that is exposing old sand that hasn't been disturbed for a long time.

Unfortunately it takes a while for all those layers of recently accumulated sand to disappear, especially when they keep dumping new sand on our beaches all of the time.

Someone once asked me what level 5 conditions on my 5 point TCTBDC Rating Scale would look like. I showed a photo of a beach after the 2004 hurricanes as the example. You can probably find that post if you use the search box at the top of this blog.

John Brooks simply has tons and tons of sand on the beach right now. Again, that doesn't mean a cob or two won't be washed up and exposed occasionally, but those aren't the conditions that I like to see.

You can learn to identify the different layers of sand on a given beach. The sand will vary in courseness and color. Sometimes you will be able to identify the type of sand that produces old items. At different beaches it will be different. On many of the beaches it will be a nice course brown sand.

I do believe that there are some artifacts on the front of some of the beaches right now. They are hard to get to though. Right now smany of them are buried beyond what you can dig out. I'm waiting for the depth of the sand on some of the front beaches to decrease so I can go get the artifacts.

I recently mentioned Sandy Point and someone wrote in and asked where that is. That is why I posted the view of Sandy Point today. It is about a three mile walk from the Rio Mar beach access, and of course less from the Vero South Beach parking lot. I don't think it would be much different walking from Round Island Park that is south of Sandy Point. The wreck near there is thought to be the Nuestra Senora Del Rosario.

I mentioned that there was a good spot to look for shells just south of the Fort Pierce Inlet on Monday. The shell pile is now gone, but here is one nice shell that I picked up Monday.

Two Nautilus Shells Found on Treasure Coast Beaches.

The one I found Monday is the small one. These types of shells are not often found on the East Coast and are paper thin. I took one picture of the small one on my finger and you could see my finger through the shell. I found the other one a few years ago.

Like I said, that one shell pile was gone today, but there was sand continuing to build on the few beaches that I looked at this morning. The cuts at John Brooks continued to deteriorate and sand continued to pile up on the other beaches.

The seas are about five feet today, but the wind is from the south/southeast. As you know that is typically not good. Expect sand to continue to build on our local beaches while the seas decrease over the next few days.

You might think about some off-beach hunting until things change.


Travel Book Printed in 1830.

Or maybe do some research. Old rare books often provide good research material.


Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

3/7/11 Report - Deteriorating Detecting Conditions on Treasure Coast

Vero South Beach Last Weekend.

Photo submitted by Timothy T.

This is looking south towards Sandy Point, which you can see in the distance. Notice the sea grass. That indicates that the last high tide was adding sand, not removing sand. That also means that the best time for hunting that cut is probably past, unless another high tide starts removing sand again. Timothy reported a few modern era finds from here.

As you may know there is an old Spanish treasure shipwreck off of Sandy Point. The beach at Sandy Point is not very often detected because it is a long walk from parking, and as the name suggests, there is a lot of sand there.

I received photos of Corrigans from a couple of people. No cuts there.

A few days ago I mentioned that Seagrape Trail looked better than Turtle Trail.



A South Hutchinson Island Beach This Morning.

I also mentioned the recent south winds, which it appears, started to fill in the beaches that were previously cut.

Notice the new sand and shells. That is typical of what I saw this morning. No signs of any new erosion.

Jensen Beach was filling in too.

Below is the beach that had four foot high cuts for a few days. You can see that it is filling in. Now the cut is two feet or less. You can see how the cliff has rounded off - being filled with new sand at the bottom.



Deteriorating Cut.

Again, notice the sea weed. It was very mushy sand here.


A NASA rocket failed on take-off and splashed into the Pacific last week. The last I read, it hadn't been found. That seems hard for me to believe. The project cost 424 million. Maybe someone could get something for salvaging that.

http://www.independent.com/news/2011/mar/04/nasa-rocket-splashes-pacific/

I suppose if anyone could get to it, NASA would have. But who knows. Maybe a goof future sources of salvage income could be derived form retrieving things like this.


Utah considers return to gold and silver coins.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/03/03/utah-considers-return-gold-silver-coins/


Forecast and Conditions.

The south winds brought in new sand and shells. There was one very good spot for shelling just south of the Fort Pierce inlet.

I'm downgrading my TCTBDC Scale rating back to a 1 again. Most of the good spots that cut last week have aready deteriorated. That is pretty much what you can usually expect from south winds.

The wind has shifted again and is coming from the north this morning, but it looks like we'll only have seas running three to four feet for the next week or so. That is not very promising.


Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

3/6/11 Report - Seas Starting to Decrease - Fake Treasure Coins

Slab Ready to Fall on Next Wave or Two.

If you talk to some of the guys that used to metal detect on the Treasure Coast beaches, some of them say that most of the beach treasure coins have already been found and that the hunting isn't good anymore. There are a good number of guys that have given up on beach hunting. Some of them will tell you how much better the hunting was ten or twenty years ago.

I was hunting treasure coins on the Treasure Coast beaches twenty years ago and more, and I have to agree with the fact that it was easier - sometimes. It did seem like there were more days when you could find multiple cobs. It did seem like you could find cobs when there were only small cuts. But that doesn't take the whole situation into account.

I can remember hunting, along with a lot of other detectorists, when the trees were rolling around in the surf like a bunch of battering rams. That was dangerous, but I can't remember the surf ever being like that again in the past two or three years.

I can remember when the beach was cut back to the tree line by the condominiums north of John Brooks Park. Now there is what seems like about three hundred yards of sand in front of that.

I can remember when there were old tree stumps lining the water line and other exposed landmarks that I haven't seen for probably 15 or more years.

Those things tell me that the conditions have just not been that good over the past few years. The one exception being immediately after the 2004 hurricanes.

I don't think it is that the cobs have all been found. In fact, I believe there are plenty yet to be found. It is just that the conditions have not been that good.

There has been way too much sand on the treasure beaches. If you ask me, that is the problem. Of course I realize that some of the treasure coins have been removed. No doubt about that. But the numbers that have been removed from the beaches, are a very small percentage of what is still out there.

If you look at the Atocha plot I showed the other day, you'll see how much has been picked up, and you know how long they have been working that, yet they are now hitting new virgin territory that is really producing. It's a big ocean.

There are long term changes in beach conditions and short term changes. In any given week the conditions may change significantly at a given spot and then change back again before long. But in addition to short-term changes like that, there are longer duration changes of years or even decades.

I believe that right now we are in a period of a lot of sand accumulating along the coastal beaches. That is made worse by all of the beach rounourishment programs.

I forget which year it was, but it has been quite a few years now since they dumped the sand in front of the Ocean Village condos. That area and to the south has had tons of sand on the beach front ever since. I know that there is older stuff under all of those tons of sand, but we won't see it until those tons of sand are moved. There is a concrete foundation near the water line that was exposed at one time, that I haven't seen for years.

What I am saying is that there is a long-term beach renourishment (natural and man-made) going on at many of our beaches that has made it harder to find treasure coins. On top of that long-term accumulation, there are periodic short-term local variations, but those short-term effects are small in comparison to the long-term accumulation.

When you get a four foot cut when the water line is three hundred yards to the east of the old tree line, that four foot cut doesn't have the same effect as it would if there were only fifty feet of sand in front of the tree line to begin with. Due to the overall beach sand accumulation that we've been having over the past few years, the short-term conditions changes are not nearly as significant.

The amount of sand you see on the beach is not the only sand that is important either. Even when a beach is eroded, if the sand remains in front of the beach, it will keep the cobs buried and keep them from being washed up.

There is a lot of sand in the water in front of the beach now too. That sand covers items and protects the beach. When the wind is right, it pushes the top layer of that sand right back up onto the beach.

Well, I can't speak to all of the variations and exceptions in one post, so I'll quit on that topic for now.

I'll try to sum all of that up. Due to the large amount of sand that has accumulated on the beach and in front of the beach over the past few years, it will take a lot of erosion before that erosion produces a lot of treasure coins. Right now, most of those coins are deeply buried and will remain buried until we either have a long term loss of sand, or some big erosion from a good storm or hurricane. Just my opinion.


Maybe you read about the fellow that fell into a mine shaft and died. There aren't any mine shafts on our beaches, but there certainly are dangers. I've done things in the past that were stupid. There are dangers that simply aren't worth the risk. Be careful, especially when the weather gets rough.

Here is the link to the mineshaft incident.

http://www.aolnews.com/2011/03/05/rescue-ends-for-man-seen-alive-in-nevada-mine/

He wasn't a young ignorant kid or city slicker either.


The Oak Ridge Boys are going to appear at the Sunrise Theatre Sunday night. I saw their tour bus at one of the motels on the causeway to South Hutchinson Island Saturday.


I have mentioned the number of fake coins that are for sale at places such as eBay. Maybe you've noticed the green encrusted coins that someone says they found while scuba diving. They've been selling quite a number of them. One guy says that he bought one and after cleaning it, he found that it was a silver-plated fake. He is reselling the coin he bought, and for a good price.

You might find this interesting.

http://cgi.ebay.com/MORGAN-TREASURE-SHIPWRECK-COIN-SILVER-ANTIQUE-PIRATE-/200583345574?pt=Coins_US_Individual&hash=item2eb3b2f5a6

At the top of this post, there is a photo of a crack behind the face of a cut. What happens is that a wave will hit the face of a cut, create a crack like that shown, and then the impact of the next wave will cause that slab of sand to fall to the base of the cut, where the next waves will wash away the sand and leave any heavier items such as cobs.


Forecast and Conditions.

Cut Rounded Off.

Only minor changes were taking place yesterday despite the big waves which were breaking on the sand out in front of the beach. In a few spots there was a little sand lost and in some a little sand added.

The photo above shows a cut that was being rounded off by the water washing over the cut and then running back down the face of the cut. Sand was accumulating at the base of the cut in some spots.

I'm keeping my 2 rating on my TCTBDC scale. I didn't see much significant change yesterday.

The wind is more from the south now and the seas are decreasing but not quickly. Seas will be in the four or five foot area for the next couple of days.

I don't expect any big changes.

Hunt out those little spots that are showing some local variation.


Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

3/4/11 Report - Seven Foot Seas Continuing & Atocha Artifact Plot

Atocha Artifact Plot.

I received this the other day from the Mel Fisher Organization via email.

Recently they have been hitting coins or artifacts on about half of their holes in previously unexplored territory. That is an unusually good hit rate and indicates that they are probably in the right area to make a lot more good finds.


There are lots of Portuguese Man-O-War on some of the beaches. Jensen Beach really had a lot, as did Fort Pierce South Beach.

If you don't know about those purple jellyfish, they have tentacles that sting. They can give a pretty painful rash if you come into contact with the tentacles.

Portuguese Man O' War on Jensen Beach This Morning.

If you normally hunt near the water barefoot, consider either wearing something on your feet or being very careful. They'll come in pretty much hidden by the white water and the tentacles can wrap around your ankles. That can be very uncomfortable.

If you want to learn more about them, here is a link.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portuguese_Man_o'_War

Meat tenderizer is said to be a good treatment, as are several others. Rub the meat tenderizer on the skin wherever contact was made.


I showed a few beaches yesterday to give an idea of how the Treasure Coast beaches are developing.

One of the Better Cuts Found on the Treasure Coast This Morning.

Last night this area eroded a little more. Most of the cutting,though, was done before that.

The seven foot seas helped a few of the beaches last night, but not greatly. This four foot cut is not unusual, but most beaches are not eroded that much, and some aren't eroded at all.

Timothy T. was out yesterday in the Vero area and reported, Riomar was pretty flat with some usual scallops but I found some long 1 foot cuts near South beach and even a small spot with a good 4 foot cut between SB and Riomar... By the Holiday Inn in Vero Beach the waves were coming up high enough to hit the seawall but really no cuts to speak of yet. Lot of erosion however as the water drainage by Ocean Grill is well into the ocean right now.\

Good information. Thanks for the report Timothy.

I always appreciate reports like this because I can't be everywhere. In fact, I hardly can find enough time to tie my shoes.

The good news is that the seven foot seas will continue through today and tomorrow. It is doing a little good in some spots, but not a great deal Most of the good erosion that I've seen occured the day before.

The bad news is the east/southeast winds. That means that we're not getting those good waves that slice in from the north. The waves were hitting pretty much straight on this morning.


I'm sticking with a 2 rating on my TCTBDC (1-5) Scale. The conditions have improved a little but not a great deal. The best beach looks very good, but I just don't think it is down to the good stuff yet. Too much of that old sand accumulation to go through. And there is still a lot of sand out in front of the beach, which keeps the heavier materials covered and protects the beach from the wave energy.

The southeast winds that we had are probably also responsible for the Man O' War.

After Saturday, it looks like the waves will begin to gradually decrease again.


Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

2/3/11 Report - Vero Area Beaches and More

Photo of Beach at Seagrape Trail This Morning.

I wanted to give a sample of some of the Treasure Beaches in the Vero area today. The beach north of Seagrape Trial didn't look bad. It seemed pretty low and there were a couple of areas that looked promising to me. I didn't have time to check with my detector though.

There were a couple of detectorists at the beach here.

Unfortunately the water wasn't getting very far back towards the dunes. And that trucked in sand is still there.

I wouldn't be surprised if something is found on this beach.


Photo of Beach at Turtle Trail This Morning.

The beach at Turtle Trail (Corrigans) was in my judgement probably about the worst looking beach that I saw in the past couple of days. So much of that fill sand is still there.

That beach has produced a lot of finds in the past. Like at Seagrape Trail, if anything is found here, I would expect it to be in the wet sand area, and probably towards the front of that at low tide.

I would really like to see the water hit those back dunes. The last time that happened some nice eight reales were found.

I'm sure the back dunes around here still contain some coins and artifacts that won't be released until more of that fill sand is removed.


Photo of Beach at Wabasso Looking South Towards Disney This Morning.

I really thought this beach would be better. There were some low spots out front worth checking, but it was not what I expected.

This beach has been deeply eroded for quite a while, The problem is that the eroded sand is beach renourishment sand.

Again, it is worth checking out - especially the low spots in the low tide zone.


Photo of Cut at John Brooks Park This Morning. Submitted by Ian A.

John Brooks has some pretty good cuts. The water was coming up over the top of yesterdays cuts in some areas and then washing back down.

It doesn't look like the erosion increased much since yesterday.

Unfortunately the wind had shifted and the waves were hitting the beach pretty directly from the east. I'd don't really like the direction of the wind right now and hope it becomes more northerly before this is over.

Peak seas are predicted for tomorrow - peaking at about 7 feet, then decreasing a little on Saturday. That should be pretty good for weekend detecting.

It will be good to get out at low tide when the seas decrease again.

I'm leaving my TCTBDC Rating at 2. Maybe I'll be able to increase that some after tomorrow but will have to wait and see.


Spyder reports "a large dune burn area located at the first major parking area south of Sebastian inlet."


A reader of Kovels Komments said, "In response to the February 23 Kovels Komments: "You mentioned some places in the home where people sometimes hide 'Treasures.' Another good place to look is in the old 'clothes chutes' where laundry items could be dropped to the basement. Check for nails inside the chute that have string on them. I knew a guy who found a plastic bottle at the end of the string with $500 cash in it."

Interesting.


On a completely different topic:

Amazing! One minute I'm reading about the horrors of looters desecrating some one's sacred heritage by collecting stone tools that were left behind and then the next minute I'm reading about archaeologists digging up human remains and removing the skeletons. The horror expressed by archaeologists at looters for disturbing the most common artifacts stands in striking contrast to the treatment of actual human remains by archaeologists. What mental gymnastics, intellectual blindness, faulty thinking, or brain washing can create such obvious inconsistency and blatant hypocrisy in such a large number of an entire profession. It doesn't speak well for the profession or the educational system.

I won't prolong this rant. Decide for yourself. Read an article or two by an archaeologist talking about "looters," and then read the following.

http://scientistatwork.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/28/in-maya-burials-unsettling-clues/?partner=rss&emc=rss


I received an interesting chart of some landmark finds on the trail of the Atocha. I'll show that sometime soon.


Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net