It’s because of stuff like this (from the Glossary of the otherwise admirable website, Keys to the Past): “Most metal detectorists are responsible, recording the location of the objects they find and informing the local museums or the Portable Antiquities Officer.”I
It’s a falsehood, a profoundly damaging calumny that has nevertheless been seeded into hundreds of unwitting newspapers and websites. The latest evidence it’s untrue comes from a survey by Paul Barford of the British antiquities on sale on EBay by UK based people on just one day last month: there were 13,825 finds on sale and just 27 were said to have been recorded by archaeologists.
It’s no wonder that the British public (unlike people elsewhere) aren’t concerned by the fact people from all over will gather today for a large detecting rally on Countryside Stewardship Mid Tier land “a mile as the crow flies from Salisbury Cathedral.” The PAS won’t be there, nor any archaeologist, just a “trained recording volunteer”, we wonder why, .
Wnat could possibly go wrong?
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Update: Ironically, see also this tweet made yesterday:
“Our Committee meets today in the beautiful cathedral City of Salisbury”
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More Heritage Journal views on artefact collecting
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4 comments
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03/10/2019 at 11:35
Christine Betts
must be frustrating seeing your heritage just spirited away.
03/10/2019 at 13:15
heritageaction
Indeed, particularly when it’s legal.
03/10/2019 at 13:39
Christine Betts
Yeah, I’ve watched the Detectorists 😬
04/10/2019 at 09:07
heritageaction
It’s not just “our” heritage, it’s everyone’s, wherever in the world they live. Also, with regard to the “knowledge” surrounding unreported artefacts and sites, it’s not merely spirited away it’s stolen and destroyed by people who lack the plain decency to report what they’ve found.