Okay, I'll pick this one up and run with it... if I may...
What about the case of erosion? I live in a tide-water area where there are fields and sand/gravel bars (from floods and weather in general), but then there are the tides... so... so much is already 'lost' from context, however- and this is what I think is important- considering all the research and scientific data gained over the past decade, my (general) area is being found to have more paleo pieces than anywhere else in the country. I've found a hand-full myself. Now, every piece I find is from the water's edge. One wave and it would be lost for God knows how long. The very fact the I find the things I do is nothing short of a miracle. In my area too (Maryland) there is 'underwater' archeology and although nothing knew, it's not quite the same when you're looking for stone age artifacts and not a Spanish galleon. Mapping my finds is the best I can do. I can pinpoint the location, and I can guess where it eroded from, but I can never say it was so-and-so inches deep and flanked by debitage and pottery shards. It would seem to me that the value of even the most rudimentary documentation- like number counts of a certain point style- can prove and disprove history itself. I don't know if the database at the University of Tenn. still is kept up/maintained, but there was a database there of point counts and distribution which is quite eye-opening- and a path to new hypotheses as to when and where folks traveled to this continent- and with what technologies. I agree that the name of the finder, the date of the find, a pic of the find insitu is really really nice, but even anonymous 'head counts' can bend opinion and challenge theory.
No, I don't ever get COAs on my finds-- and my entire collection is self-found- with the exception of just one point (found by a friend raised in the area). I won't sell, but I'll give them up (as stated in a different thread), and I think even the little I've been able to document will add to the big picture over time.
What do think?
The archeologist for Tn keep a data base of certain significant finds/types and point distribution. Things really traveled in the last 500 years. Now you can mail them. In context is your best clue at this point.
