but then there would be no margaret and ron curtis - neither of them 'professionals'. you can neither condone or proscribe it can you? - pragmatically or theoretically - and there is a difference between uncovering something and damaging / altering it surely - how would you find anything otherwise?

If a person is commissioned to carry out an archaeological survey, say of mounds and cairns within a parish, by a regional trust, then I would assume that this negates the use of the term 'amateur' in this context. If my practical research, in SW Northumberland, was objected to, in any way, then it would be immediately terminated. I can only do what I do with full and unequivocal support and permission. You forget that I also have the responsibility of caring for these stupendous monuments in that twilight zone between being recognised, by me, and taken into the care of the country, via E. H. and others. There is an absurd haste to condemn 'this stuff', not one individual has yet offered to help conserve these treasures ...