A year ago a bunch of British artefact hunters pressurised a respectable British archaeologist to unearth the Lenborough hoard in a too-hurried fashion using the lie that “it can’t be guarded overnight so nighthawks will get it if it isn’t dug up right now”.

Last night on  Channel 5’s awful “Nazi War Diggers Rebranded” a British artefact hunter pointed to a car 100 yards away and said: “There’s black diggers over there. We’ve got to be thorah as if we leave anything they’ll ‘ave it!”.

It is to be hoped that British archaeologists who are currently condemning what happened in Latvia in large numbers will start lobbying the British Government and the European authorities about the all-too-obvious need for proper legal regulation of artefact hunting in both countries.

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As Paul Barford has now asked: “Why do the English consider that Latvians parking a car by the side of a road in Latvia must be up to no good?” 

"Oooh look, an empty car 100 yards away on a public road in broad daylight. Must be nighthawks planning to wreck the site. We'd better do it ourselves." (Was that self-justificatory lie uttered in Latvia or Leicester? Yes, both. Frequently.)

“Oooh look, an empty car 100 yards away on a public road in broad daylight. Must be nighthawks planning to wreck the site. We’d better do it ourselves.” (Was that self-justificatory lie uttered in Latvia or Leicester? Yes, both. Frequently.)

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More Heritage Journal views on artefact collecting
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