Why no adequate outreach on metal detecting forums?

English Heritage used to have an outreach department but closed it many years ago. The Portable Antiquities Scheme does it, it says, but clearly not adequately. Why else would this appear on a detecting forum last Thursday:

“So I have a couple of sites that have a fair bit of iron contamination. One site has suspected graves, 3-4 ft where there will be goods such as shield bosses, brooches, etc. Another is Roman where we suspect there is a coin hoard. Can anyone suggest a machine that will punch through the iron and find the deop targets?”

Clearly, this person hasn’t the foggiest notion of responsible detecting or doesn’t care about it. But not just him. Hundreds of irresponsible postings appear on detecting forums every year and are deleted by the webmasters, as this one has been, to maintain the impression everyone behaves. Which begs the question: why isn’t PAS monitoring the forums and posting on them, pointing out how wrong such behaviours are?

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More Heritage Journal views on artefact collecting
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