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May 11, 2009
Front page story on Metal Detectorists in the Washington Post!
The Washington Post has a front page story today (guess things are slow the Monday after Mother's Day?) on metal detectorists in England - very nicely done! The author explains the problems American archaeologists have with metal detectorists clearly* but makes the advantages of the 1996 legal changes pretty clear.
While archaeologists in many countries, including the United States, disparage amateurs like Eveleigh, Britain embraces them. Last year alone, 4,300 metal detectorists reported tens of thousands of finds: Bronze Age axes, Roman brooches and hairpins, medieval candlesticks and swords, and thousands of other relics. ad_iconBefore museum archaeologists began working with metal detector enthusiasts a decade ago, only about 25 reported discoveries annually met the official definition of "treasure" -- the most rare finds, which include gold and silver caches more than 300 years old. Every year since, that number has soared, hitting 802 last year.
"The collections in our museums would be thinner without the detectorists' finds," said Roger Bland, head of Portable Antiquities and Treasure at the British Museum in London, as he pointed out jewelry, coins and other displays found by weekend warriors combing fields for fun.
*I, of course, think that people who have such a thin history have to preserve it more jealously than people who, say, have a LOT of history! But part of their problem is that archaeologists have to be control freaks to excel at their work.
Posted by CrankyProfessor at May 11, 2009 2:06 PM