PARAGOULD -- Dan Martin, a retired Marine, has been collecting prehistoric and historic artifacts since he retired from active military service in 1995.
"It isn't just a hobby anymore," Martin said. "It's a lifestyle."
While artifact hobbyists struggle to maintain the legitimacy and integrity of their pursuits, Martin said that regionally, artifact hunters and collectors are treated with respect by professionals, the Paragould Daily Press reported.
"We interact with the archaeologists and the different state agencies," Martin said. "We aren't out trying to destroy sites or anything like that, but we do want to share with the public what we find."
Locally, Martin hosts an artifact show in Paragould a few times a year.
"It is always growing," Martin said. "We try to keep it all as honest as we can, but every once in awhile something will slip through the cracks that isn't authentic."
Martin said that the high prices many artifacts demand are an incentive for fraudulent pieces.
"Anytime you have money changing hands like that you will have fraud," Martin said. "Lying is lying, cheating is cheating and fraud is fraud. I always tell people or local pawnshops or flea markets to call me if they have artifacts come in for sale. I'm not trying to get anything out of it, I just want to keep everything honest."
Fraud presents an obvious financial and legal challenge for the hobby of artifact hunting and collecting, and Martin said there are still some out there who give the hobby a bad name.
"The ethics of collecting will always be called into question," Martin said. "Sometimes people will think of us as 'pot hunters,' but rarely does anyone do that kind of destructive hunting anymore unless they are simply trying to fund a drug habit or whatever."
Metro on 09/29/2014