.... They even scold arrested people that pull tabs should be left in the ground as they may be of interest to future archaeologists. Should we cry and ask forgiveness for lowering their pay?
Tsk tsk tsk. George George george ......... Well OF COURSE that pulltab MAY INDEED be of interest to future generations. It's all about context. Not the individual tab or coin or whatever. Don't you know the purist archie comeback lines to your notion ? :
Consider the pyramids of Egypt. Now no one (not even the most calloused md'r) would advocate that we should be able to snoop around sensitive cool historic monuments like those. Right ? Museums there that tourists can browse to see cool things the archies have done and found. Right ?
But consider that a few miles downstream or upstream of those Egyptian pyramids, that they found worker village locations. And archies dug there in recent years and found all kinds of new info. Revealing the life and customs of the common-man worker-bee of the times.
You might have argued "what harm am I doing miles away from the sensitive monument ?" BUT AS YOU CAN SEE : There IS INDEED sometimes an archie pit that *could* be sunk somewhere, 3000 yrs. from now, where a seemingly innocuous item WILL INDEED shed light on how people lived back in 2018. Tsk Tsk.
So HOW DO YOU KNOW that the pulltab you just dug, MIGHT not be where an archie, 3000 yrs. from now, *might* dig his 5 x 5 ft. pit ? Shame on you. I know you are writhing in grief and guilt right now. But not to worry: Box up all your md'ing finds and ship them to me. I will absolve your conscience of all guilt. It's the least I can do for a good friend and forum contributor like you