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A while ago I wrote here about the Buried Treasure shop that had just opened in Eastbourne, at the time I wrote to the Portable Antiquities Scheme's Finds Liaison Officer, charged with liaison with PAS artefact-hunting partners and other members of the public in the area about portable antiquities about this matter. Sadly Ms Smith is too busy (perhaps busy dealing with artefact-finding "partners") to even acknowledge receipt of a query from a non-collecting member of the public. So much for "outreach". I get the impression that the PAS in Sussex have nothing to say about this new outlet for the British trade in "portable antiquities". I bet if I wrote to her in the guise of a local detectorist and said I'd found a golden helmet she'd have answered.
You should do that, if you can stomach the idea... What an aweful idea for a "shop."
ReplyDeleteI shouldn't "HAVE" to do that, the PAS is set up for outreach to all, not everybody except preservationists.
ReplyDeleteThe PAS spends too much time partnering the deliberate despoilers of the archaeological record, not enough time giving the rest of the public a more nuanced view of the issues surrounding portable antiquities. They and the archaeological record are the victims of such a short-sighted policy by an organization which clearly sees itself as totally unaccountable (vide the discussion about the "Britain's secret Treasures" TV programme).