The following Request for Discussion has been posted on various newsgroups and is now being posted to the mailing lists mentioned in it. Discussion about this proposal should take place in the news.groups newsgroup. This is a formal Request For Discussion on the creation of a new worldwide Usenet newsgroup, sci.archaeology.moderated.
Procedural details are below.
It would meet a long-standing demand for a moderated newsgroup for the discussion of archaeology without flames and without the 'speculative' postings that have put many people off in the past. It would still leave any and all posters the forums that currently exist, so there can be no question of denying anyone an outlet for their ideas. All viewpoints and levels of knowledge are welcome, subject to the moderation policy described below. Because archaeology is such a broad subject and because lively debate on archaeological issues is encouraged, this group is moderated by a panel of several people and prospective articles are assigned randomly to any moderator for approval. Moderators will represent both professional and amateur archaeologists.