Paul Barford has just posed a seasonal question:

“There are Bloomsbury-encouraged “Citizen Archaeologists” (sic) and Responsible Amateur Archaeologists: which side will you be on in 2019?”

Anybody interested in heritage or employed in anything archaeology related ought to face up to that question as we enter 2019. We have. We’ll be on the side of responsible amateur archaeologists. But this isn’t a case of “which football team do you support?” There have to be reasons. Here are ours:

Responsible amateur archaeologists don’t pocket stuff

Responsible amateur archaeologists don’t sell stuff

Responsible amateur archaeologists don’t have secrets

Responsible amateur archaeologists don’t make “finds ageements”

Responsible amateur archaeologists don’t dig at random

Responsible amateur archaeologists report everything

Responsible amateur archaeologists seek knowledge, not metal

Responsible amateur archaeologists minimise damage

Responsible amateur archaeologists share the views of archaeologists

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How could anyone support the other team?

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More Heritage Journal views on artefact collecting
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