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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The Heritage Journal 
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26/03/2022 at 08:08
Paul Barford (@PortantIssues)
Can you recall ever seeing a thread on a metal detecting forum where members have been discussing actively lobbying for a PAS presence on the site to give guidance on responsible behaviour and best practice? They all say they want to do both (in fact all claim that ARE doing both) but as you said, the moment these claims are scrutinised or thrown into doubt, they run away from discussing it. Like children (“wasn’t me miss!”). Have you seen a thread where the moderators write about actively inviting the PAS to join in, and the PAS has refused point-blank?
26/03/2022 at 08:18
heritageaction
No, but by the same token, doesn’t outreach mean reaching out, i.e. what is to stop PAS from applying to join without waiting for an invitation?