Professor pleads guilty in NM artifacts case

A Chicago archaeology professor has pleaded guilty to taking "Folsom and Clovis points" from federal land in New Mexico, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. David Amick, 66, chairperson of the anthropology department at the Lake Shore campus of Loyola University of Chicago, entered a guilty plea to one misdemeanor count of violating the Archaeological Resources Protection Act, says a news release from U.S. Attorney for the New Mexico District, Kenneth Gonzales. It says Amick was ordered to serve one year of probation. The Friday news release says that on June 3, 2007, during a field trip with two others, Amick removed 12 archaeological artifacts from unidentified federal land in New Mexico. The next day, they removed five more, it says. "Amick admitted knowing that it was illegal to remove the artifacts," says the news release that estimated the market value of the artifacts at more than $500...more