Well..
I coincide perhaps my statements were harsh regarding people in Mexican Archaeology, and of course you could know 'top notch' professionals. I however have seen oppressive actions from non-open minded individuals barring discovery rather then embracing every possible course of action. I have been told many things by a woman who worked in the excavations of Mexico City, and she has expressed a complete lack of confidence in her past employers. Her story involved her superior which she idolized in the beginning of her archaeological career, only to realize later that he profited from his own people's history sold to the highest bidder. This was the Gran Jefe, a man she had much respect for only to see his name on boxes sold illegally. The important moral is that everything about our cultural histories should be found and analysed by open minded people, be they Academic or not. Regarding the governmental control which Mexico has over all the cultural sites in the Yucatan, this is purely profit driven, and they had no interest in them until a profit was possible.
Chichen Itza for example was once owned by an American who built a very small tourist operation there because of his love of the historical site. He was the first to convince people to venture from Progresso into the jungle to see this site which is now a World Wonder. He also began archaeological operations which produced the greatest finds from this area of the world. He then with no moral dilemma, sent the artifacts to the states to be analysed and put in museums. The Mexican government decided at that time to steal his property and bar him from every returning to the Yucatan once they saw profitability in the ashes of a culture which their ancestors had destroyed. He died without every seeing the Yucatan again. Eventually, after they pillaged the site, the Federal Courts returned the property to his family which then sold it to local parties, only to be stolen again when they announced a complete government takeover of all sites which could be used for profit. These are facts, and the future must reflect these previous grave errors.
Cultural History of great people belong to all great people, not to one area of a modern empire but to all in the world who wish to know and discovery more about our past. You may truly believe that Archaeologists are doing all they can with the limited funds allowed to them, and the massive red tape parade that encircles all past culture discoveries. I will not sit on the sidelines and wait til Governments are good and ready to reveal our history, I will actively seek the truth myself.
