American Diggers

I love TimeTeam. I have every episode and special they made, including the year end reports. Its my spare time show. And I know that when it first came out there were some serious concerns among the archaeological community about its value and also the commercial element. But it is run by archaeologists and has a good relationship with British Heritage, etc. They tired to bring the show to the U.S. but only did one season. I guess the american public weren't particularly interested, or the archaeologists went into an uproar, but either way it stopped running and there haven't been any archaeological reality shows in the states since then.

It seems that may be about to change. This guy, Ric Savage, is planning to wander around the U.S. digging up peoples' back yards and selling whatever he finds, all for Spike TV's new show "American Digger." He says he has always had a passion for digging and after his pro-wrestling career started digging for a living. He asks private land owners for permission before digging up their back yards and splits the proceeds with them when something valuable is found. The AIA and other archaeologists are in an uproar now. Letters have been sent out and rebutted, articles written from both sides, and the producers of the show are now talking about a compromise that includes input from archaeologists.

The people involved in the creation of the show say that the archaeologists are overreacting and that the show is completely legal. They cite Ric's right as an American citizen to dig up whatever he wants provided he has permission from the land owner.
But the archaeologists remind us that this might be pushing it in terms of "the american dream" and may end up destroying valuable artifacts and information as well as encourage others to go out and dig willy-nilly. They have that right in their own back yards, but it is only a matter of time before they move into parks, battlefields, and native burial grounds looking for quick cash from out of context finds. On the other hand the show might inspire people to pursue legitimate archaeological careers.

Heres an article by the Times if you're interested.