He brought in professional archeologists when the big discovery was made last year.

The help would be not only for professional and amatuer archeologists, but also for developers, landowners, town governments and others.

Chobshi and Yacubiñay have not been studied intensely or excavated by professional archeologists.

The rods frequently pierce ceramic pots, but the prospectors find that the system is more rewarding than the painstaking approach of professional archeologists.

"I checked all around," he recalls, "and none of the professional archeologists wanted to get involved."

The last thing in the world he would do is get in the way of the professional archeologists at work in these parts.

Hutch knew that a professional archeologist would have told them it was priceless.

He said some professional Israeli archeologists agreed, but did not want their names made public.

During the first excavation, in 1997, the professional archeologists did not come up with anything to rival the fishermen's spectacular finds.

"They were dragged kicking and screaming to do those studies," a professional archeologist, who asked not to be identified, said last week.