Looted Archaeological Sites: Are They Worthy of Scientific Investigation?

Since the late 1800s, looting of prehistoric and historic Bles has been recognized as a serious threat to archaeological resources throughout the world (Knoll 1991}. Looting destroys both recorded and unrecorded sites in the United states (Ahlstrom 1992, Honeycutt et al. 1985, stuart 1989). With such a great amount of looting taking place, this research paper asks a basic question: Why do archaeologists not investigate looted archaeological sites as they do nonlooted sites and features? This question will be answered by reviewing the literature about looting including the archaeological reaction to looting. Two looted features, potted privies, will be discussed to test the potential of looted sles. The results of this paper will imply the necessity and importance for archaeologists to study looted features