nigelswift wrote:
Really? I would have thought its rather useful to compare the two situations.
I disagree. I think it's a very superficial analogy. I can't imagine treading mud into a stone circle doing the same damage as treading mud onto someone's carpet. Nor do you "own" an ancient site any more than the next person. Respect and courtesy? Absolutely. Same or similar thing to a friend's house? Not at all.
Are you saying that the courtesy and cultural conditioning that inhibits people from acting in a way that annoys their friends at houses is somehow not just as potent and just as important when it comes to their duty towards subsequent visitors (co-stakeholders) at ancient sites?
No. I'm saying they're two extremely different sets of values applied in extremely different situations - thus making the analogy a bad one. The issues of respect and courtesy are still important, but not well-served by drawing a parallel between ancient sites and urban semis. 