Do the monument protection authorities approve amateur archaeology?
It depends, but usually not. In some cases the monument protection authorities disapprove all excavations, even if performed by professionals, unless a building is about to be erected in the area in question. This is a heavily debated and very complex issue. Since the media have to rely mostly on the monument protection authorities as only sources their articles are usually biased. Since they need sensational articles they draw over-dramatic pictures of “sinister characters plundering historical sites at night” – which is pretty much nonsense, at least in Germany where time and petrol is expensive and hardly any relics have material value. These observations caused me to give a very verbose answer. In every civilised country there are laws to protect the historical heritage which is good. Some areas are so meaningful to understand the past that just the most professional people should undertake an excavation which always means destruction of the site. It is understandable if private pe
