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So why have we gone all Canadaphile? Well, it’s because they’re so refreshingly keen to protect Canada – see above. And they really mean it, for look at this ! Doesn’t that sound great?! Two Americans targeting Canada’s archaeological sites for a populist, far from professional reality show and Canada’s archaeologists stepping in and saying no, you can’t do that without an archaeologist being present! Basically they’re saying Canada’s buried heritage belongs to everyone, not two people. As one of them puts it: “We need accountability and we need an on-site archeologist appointed by the province and for the treasure hunters to cover the cost.”
Meanwhile, back in Britain, not two but hundreds of Americans target our archaeological sites annually without archaeologists being present (they come on organised detecting holidays specifically catering for them) and other detectorists from scores of countries across the globe attend detecting rallies here, also without archaeologists present. (One wonders just how much of a United Nations gathering the recent archaeologist-free rally to remove objects from the site of Weyhill Fair was?!) And of course relentlessly, week after week, thousands and thousands of British people are out (legally) targeting (unprotected) archaeological sites either in groups or on their own without an archaeologist being involved or even informed.
But have you heard lots of British archaeologists demanding “We need accountability, we need on-site archeologists and we need treasure hunters to cover the cost”? Nor me. Canada stands on guard for its buried heritage. Britain doesn’t.
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More Heritage Journal views on artefact collecting
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The Heritage Journal 
7 comments
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11/10/2014 at 08:31
calmgrove
Good intentions expressed on the link you give, but I shudder a little when I hear Shakespeare and the Knights Templar mentioned in connection with Oak Island…
11/10/2014 at 08:57
heritageaction
Indeed, but all that stuff seems to be coming from a consultant to the TV programme, not from archaeologists. This is the Discovery Channel after all!
11/10/2014 at 14:19
David Knell
We Canadians ARE the salt of the earth you know! 😉
11/10/2014 at 14:37
Chris Burton
Interesting. I have been interested in the Oak Island ‘money pit’ since reading about it as a child and being filled with the notion of buried pirate treasure. It is know as the ‘money pit’ due to the ridiculous amounts of money that has been spent by prospectors over the years in trying to excavate the ‘treasure’. This is not your normal dig but instead has been full scale mining operations over many years, the impact of which has been to the effect that the original ‘pit’ has disappeared and only a rough idea of where it is/was remains. It seems most likely that the pit is just one of many subterranean sink holes on the island and is connected to an underground labyrinth of fissures that are filled with sea water. The various items recovered seem likely to be debris that has ended up in the sinkhole. It is a fools folly that has swallowed millions of $ and even a few lives along the way.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oak_Island
As for Archaeologists being present and paid for by the prospectors, HAVE they found something at long last (highly unlikely). This is not an archaeological dig, instead they are sinking a massive bore hole, pumping it with water, sucking the water out into holding tanks and seeing what there is in the sediment. An archaeologist would simply be reduced to a finds examiner – Interesting/not interesting.
They key part here is the protection of sites. If a site is of interest, protect it, schedule it, preserve it.
“thousands and thousands of British people are out (legally) targeting (unprotected) archaeological sites either in groups or on their own without an archaeologist being involved or even informed”
Legally targeting unprotected sites – Exactly. These sites need protecting and then by virtue of the protection, any prospecting would then become illegal, it really is as simple as that. We need more encompassing protective legislation of these sites, not asking that the UK’s archaeologists try to be here there and everywhere in order to try to mitigate the situation. Archaeology is a scholarly discipline, not an ersatz police division.
11/10/2014 at 14:46
heritageaction
“We Canadians ARE the salt of the earth you know!”
We’ll take that with a pinch of!
11/10/2014 at 14:58
Nigel S
“We need more encompassing protective legislation of these sites, not asking that the UK’s archaeologists try to be here there and everywhere in order to try to mitigate the situation.”
Quite. Mitigation is for unavoidable losses, not for avoidable, recreational ones. Doing the latter is barmy and uniquely British.
“These sites need protecting and then by virtue of the protection, any prospecting would then become illegal, it really is as simple as that.”
Well, we’ve just asked EH to protect just ONE site, Weyhill Fair, and it looks like they won’t even look at it unless we, humble amateurs, jump through hoops to present the case to a professional standard.
11/10/2014 at 15:22
Chris Burton
Well, we’ve just asked EH to protect just ONE site, Weyhill Fair, and it looks like they won’t even look at it unless we, humble amateurs, jump through hoops to present the case to a professional standard.
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Precisely. This is why archaeologists should be presenting the professional cases for scheduling of sites to protect them instead of them being expected to be the ‘history police’ by Jo Public and alike and Jo Public asking for scheduling. Bonkers Britain!
“Mitigation is for unavoidable losses, not for avoidable, recreational ones.”
Currently, the losses are unavoidable since the site/s in question are not protected. The avoidable element is to protect the site/s.