"Search and you shall find"

A few weeks ago I posted some comments on a CD resource with which metal detectorists can do their "research". It seems the advert has been updated:

Wickham Market
DID WE HAVE A PLACEMARKER ON THIS SITE?
Iron Age gold coins found at Wickham Market...News
Metal Detectors Searcher... have the locations of four Sites at Wickham Market listed in our Members Area, 3 are finds of pottery they have been on our website of over 1 year

So if any metal detector owner had spent just twenty quid and searched the known archaeological fndspots this CD provides the metal detector users, the implication is that you too could have found the "Wickham Market" coin hoard.

One thing that supporters ("partners") of metal detectorists are simply not admitting is that while some artefact hunting is done in areas randomly determined because of a friendly farmer saying "yes, please come in tekkies and take away any archaeological remains from my land you want", a substantial proportion of it is done by locating known archaeological sites from precisely such resources as we are discussing. In other words to some extent the data collected by the PAS and other such organizations is duplicating those already known - but to what extent? Well, nobody really is saying.

So here we have a proposed situation, the precise location of four known archaeological sites are given to the searcher on satellite photos by Mr Capman's CD resource. The advertising blurb suggests the enterprising treasure seeker can now go and search all four of them to his heart's cntent - or the limits of the patience of the landowner (for of course he'd ask permission first). Concentrating on known sites will increase the chances of rewarding finds. All he has to do is carry on long enough and he may well find a hoard of coins which when he digs it out and presents it to the coroner in a carrier bag will bring him in a multi-thousand pound reward and a pat on the head from the media. Simple.

The question is whether we the British archaeological record, and archaeological institutions really want all ancient treasures dug out of where they lie in archaeological contexts (in known archaeological sites) right now and at some considerable public expense? Should metal detectorists not in fact in any case be leaving known archaeological stes alone and not using them as an easy source of cash?

I asked the Portable Antiquities Scheme for an official comment on this resource and their thoughts on its use by their "partners". They seem not to have noticed that it has been published and are keeping quiet. What kind of outreach is that?