When you strip everything away, about the only difference between the "professional" archeologist and the "amateur" relic hunter is the number of letters after their names (PhD, MS, BS). Oh, and maybe the size of their budget and the cost of their equipment. They pretty much do the same job.

Look back at the history of archeology. Before it became a respected "science", most archeologists were considered tomb-robbers, looters, and crack-pots. Most archeologists WERE tomb-robbers, looters and crack-pots. They'd bust into an ancient Egyptian tomb, grab what they could, sell it to some rich Earl or Duke, and move on to the next. There was little accountability, no oversight and little documentation. Things were worse when it came to dinosaur digs. Jumble all the bones together and proclaim that you've discovered the "whateversaurus". We're still trying to correct all of the mistakes in the museums.

Skip brought up some good points. Much of our unknown sites have been found by the "amateurs" and not the "professionals". Usually, after the amateurs do all of the preliminary work, the pros come in and tell everyone they can't dig there anymore. Kinda ironic isn't it? The majority of our history has been discovered, preserved and documented by amateurs. We all need to work together. If someone is good at research & documentation, but lousy on the field work, partner up. I'd love to help out. In the end, it makes us all better historians.

There are bad apples in every group. The key here is cooperation. If there are people out there who are giving the relic community a bad name, get the word out. Expose them and let us know what they are doing. For the most part, the historical community will not tolerate it, and will take care of the bad ones in its own way. And for goodness sakes, EDUCATE US! TELL US ABOUT WHAT YOU DO AND THE BENEFITS OF YOU DOING IT! Go to schools or local museums or community centers and display your artifacts. Bring pictures along to show what you do and show everyone that you are professionals and not mere "grave robbers". You don't have to tell the exact location of your site, but do educate us!