jimpeel
October 16, 2003, 01:45 AM
According to the BLM, dirt in Shell, WY is worth $94,500,000 per cubic yard! :eek:
If the BLM and the university have been digging here since the early nineties and these guys did $7 million in a day ...
http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/2557404/detail.html
$20,000 Reward Offered In Cave Looting
Evidence Indicates Humans Occupied Cave 4,000 Years Ago
POSTED: 5:01 p.m. MDT October 15, 2003
SHELL, Wyo. -- A $20,000 reward is being offered for information leading to the arrest of those responsible for the looting of an archaeological cave in Big Horn County.
The looting occurred at a site known as the BA Cave south of Shell between early spring and mid-June, causing nearly $7 million in damage, Bureau of Land Management archaeologist Mike Bies said Wednesday.
"The recent episode of unauthorized excavations at the BA Cave Rockshelter has clearly damaged and destroyed significant and irreplaceable archaeological information of interest to academic researchers and to the public," he said.
The looters, Bies said, unlawfully excavated two cubic feet at the site, removing an unknown number of items and damaging the area. Officials were able to recover some items of value, including arrowheads, bone scrapers, bones and chipped stone.
"Considering what they left behind, this suggests the looters have far more significant items in their possession," Bies said.
BLM and University of Wyoming researchers have been excavating the site near Black Mountain since the early 1990s, and have found artifacts indicating it had been occupied by humans up to 4,000 years ago.
Bies asked anyone with information about the looting to contact the BLM's Worland Field Office.
"We believe there are people who might be able to shed some light on the theft and damages that took place here," he said. "If anyone knows something about what happened, we hope that they come forward."
Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
If the BLM and the university have been digging here since the early nineties and these guys did $7 million in a day ...
http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/2557404/detail.html
$20,000 Reward Offered In Cave Looting
Evidence Indicates Humans Occupied Cave 4,000 Years Ago
POSTED: 5:01 p.m. MDT October 15, 2003
SHELL, Wyo. -- A $20,000 reward is being offered for information leading to the arrest of those responsible for the looting of an archaeological cave in Big Horn County.
The looting occurred at a site known as the BA Cave south of Shell between early spring and mid-June, causing nearly $7 million in damage, Bureau of Land Management archaeologist Mike Bies said Wednesday.
"The recent episode of unauthorized excavations at the BA Cave Rockshelter has clearly damaged and destroyed significant and irreplaceable archaeological information of interest to academic researchers and to the public," he said.
The looters, Bies said, unlawfully excavated two cubic feet at the site, removing an unknown number of items and damaging the area. Officials were able to recover some items of value, including arrowheads, bone scrapers, bones and chipped stone.
"Considering what they left behind, this suggests the looters have far more significant items in their possession," Bies said.
BLM and University of Wyoming researchers have been excavating the site near Black Mountain since the early 1990s, and have found artifacts indicating it had been occupied by humans up to 4,000 years ago.
Bies asked anyone with information about the looting to contact the BLM's Worland Field Office.
"We believe there are people who might be able to shed some light on the theft and damages that took place here," he said. "If anyone knows something about what happened, we hope that they come forward."
Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.