This is also why I kinda scoff at pseudoarcheologists and pseudoscientists of the likes of Graham Hancock, who treat "mainstream" academia as some unassailable fortress of elitism. I'm not saying elitism isn't an issue in the field, but even without a formal education, there's...
I remember listening to these two archeologists a while ago talking about their work, and they said they occasionally work with people who are essentially hobbyists - random ranchers or landowners with zero formal training - who are nonetheless fully accepted by the local...(1/2)