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Sins of the Shovel: Looting, Murder, and the Evolution of American Archaeology

By (author) Rachel Morgan

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normal price: R 578.95

Price: R 520.95

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| book description |

An incisive history of early American archaeologyâ€”from reckless looting to professional scienceâ€”and the fieldâ€™s unfinished efforts to make amends today, told ""with passion, indignation, and a dash of suspense"" (New York Times). American archaeology was forever scarred by an 1893 business proposition between cowboy-turned-excavator Richard Wetherill and socialites-turned-antiquarians Fred and Talbot Hyde. Wetherill had stumbled upon Mesa Verdeâ€™s spectacular cliff dwellings and started selling artifacts, but with the Hydesâ€™ money behind him, wellâ€”thereâ€™s no telling what they might discover. Thus begins the Hyde Exploring Expedition, a nine-year venture into Utahâ€™s Grand Gulch and New Mexicoâ€™s Chaco Canyon thatâ€”coupled with other less-restrained lootersâ€”so devastates Indigenous cultural sites across the American Southwest that Congress passes first-of-their-kind regulations to stop the carnage. As the money dries up, tensions rise, and a once-profitable enterprise disintegrates, setting the stage for a tragic murder. Sins of the Shovel is a story of adventure and business gone wrong and how archaeologists today grapple with this complex heritage. Through the story of the Hyde Exploring Expedition, practicing archaeologist Rachel Morgan uncovers the uncomfortable links between commodity culture, contemporary ethics, and the broader political forces that perpetuate destructive behavior today. The result is an unsparing and even-handed assessment of American archaeologyâ€™s sins, past and present, and how the field is working toward atonement.