This blog questions current British policies on artefact hunting and collecting in Britain and raises issues about organizations such as the Portable Antiquities Society involved in these activities. The latter has studiously avoided addressing most of the issues raised here, and instead of addressing them in open debate has obviously decided a tactic of discrediting questioners is their only option. Members of the British public want to consider whether investing further millions of pounds in entrusting the future care of important elements of the historic heritage to just such people is a wise policy. Or is it another way of encouraging the self-centred, amoral, irresponsible, destructively materialist mores that have increasingly taken over British public life and expressed in the hoodie yob culture?
Photo: Mohammed Ashraf Haziq experiences the 'fair play' of modern anything-goes England. People are robbed in the street there in broad daylight as people walk by without intervening, just as the archaeological heritage of 'anything goes' England is swiped from under people's noses without as much as a 'thank you', and when people question what is going on they risk "a smack in the gob" from those state-supported metal detectorists.
"People are robbed in the street there in broad daylight as people walk by without intervening, just as the archaeological heritage of 'anything goes' England is swiped from under people's noses without as much as a 'thank you'"
ReplyDeleteIt's fascinating you should make that comparison Paul as I'm working on an article that illustrates something similar - detecting rallies with "finds agreements" that fool the landowners and have the effect of leaving the metal detectorists with a contractual right to 100% of the loot (while PAS attends, looks on, lets it happen and doesn't use water cannon....)
As for attacks on you, that's "the defence of the red-handed" and it's not just metal detectorists that do it is it?
There are some very good quotes in this mornings papers in the UK about "why" this is happening which I was thinking of lifting for a post on "why" we have the problems we do with metal detecting in the UK. There are some pretty amazing convergences... reminds me of those bits in chapter 12 we were wondering were not too "grumpy-old-mannish" I'm glad we left them in.
ReplyDeleteI'll get round to making a post of it later maybe, got a bunch of small bits of translation to do today for an exhibition catalogue which is going to print next week.
Interesting comparision comparing the looting during the riots to the looting by metal detectors. Throwing stuff away in the street that they did not want.
ReplyDeleteAnother ineresting comparision is the recent news that four European countries are banning short selling of financial stocks for fifteen days. This is to stop the traders betting on the fall in the share price of some European Banks.
They make huge amounts of money on betting on the share price companies that are weak will fall. This makes the situation worse.
These traders and Hedge fund managers are opportunists also.
And what do they spend their huge bonuses on?
Well in the case of Levett we know.
http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/markets/article-2025024/Stock-market-stabilises-European-ban-short-selling-shores-confidence.html