“Also, once a pipeline finds even a small arrowhead, all pipeline building has to come to a complete halt and archaeologists are called in to investigate on both private or government owned land.”
And it’s not just for pipelines. ANY sort of construction that MAY run through an area where there MIGHT be an arrowhead needs to have dozens of permits anymore. As an example, the local phone company where I live wanted to run new burried lines to facilitate high speed internet. They put in for permits to bury the new lines right along side their existing lines along the highway easement. It took YEARS to get approval to dig exactly where they had dug before when installing the original phone lines. It was primarily the archeologists that held the operation up for years. This is right along the highway, dug before, bladed by machinery for years, run over by mowers and people pulling onto the shoulder. The phone company lost many customers who didn’t want to wait, and decided to go with other sources of Internet.
+++++it’s not just for pipelines. ANY sort of construction that MAY run through an area where there MIGHT be an arrowhead needs to have dozens of permits anymore+++++
Thank goodness that doesn’t apply to private construction in the 4 corners. You can’t put a shovel in the dirt around here without finding some Anasazi something or another. Pulling dirt from a hill behind a new building, uncovered a kiln buried in a small hillside with pottery shards up the wazoo. Left the kiln alone and grabbed dirt off to the side. My grandaughter found pottery walking around for years since she was 3 or 4 on the property to take to school for show and tell. And yes, the hill I was dragging dirt from is on my property too.