This is a very tricky sticking point when it comes to the archeological investigation of Native American sites.
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It is of course only done to expand our knowlage of the peoples that came before us, but a great deal of respect must the paid to them in the process. Not only are their descendants still with us in modern times, but the oral history of those ancestors also lives on as well.
Perhaps a good distinction to make would be that if we could not have learned the information any way other than digging, then it's archaeology. If there was some other way to learn it (such as talking to the descendants) then digging would be grave robbing. Hang on... we need to work the consent of the descendants into that.
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It is of course only done to expand our knowlage of the peoples that came before us, but a great deal of respect must the paid to them in the process. Not only are their descendants still with us in modern times, but the oral history of those ancestors also lives on as well.