Both casual 'pot-hunters' and professional dealers in antiquities profit from the theft of classic polychrome and black-on-white pottery from the Southwest's Mimbres Valley. The antiquities dealer's clients, including museums and private collectors, are willing to pay thousands of dollars for these prized relics of ancient Indian cultures. Under pressure from the public and archaeologists, the law enforcement units of the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) are increasing their efforts to prevent the pillage of archaeological sites. They are armed with a 1979 Federal law, the Archaeological Resources Protection Act, which stiffens considerably the penalties for illegal pot-hunting. Although it is not a new phenomenon, the theft of ancient Indian pottery was exacerbated by a collecting boom that began in the mid-1960's, resulting in the destruction of many ancient village sites. Enforcement of the laws against pot-hunting poses serious problems. The Mimbres District stretches over 474,000 acres -- an area larger than Rhode Island -- and yet is manned by only six full-time Forest Service employees to cover as many as 1,000 known archaeological sites. Also, law enforcement officers have to catch a pot-hunter with the goods at the site, because pottery cannot be traced back to its exact source after it has been sold. Also, commercial pot-hunters have developed a few almost foolproof ploys to conduct illegal digs. Aircraft patrols and the use of time-lapse cameras and seismic sensor devices at sites are some measures police have taken. Although it is too soon to gauge the effect of the stiffer penalties of the new law, it will probably deter the casual pot-hunter but will only make the professional poacher more careful. No references are given.