Metal Detecting Under the Microscope: "Jus' Ignore 'im and the Problem Will Go Away"

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A while ago British "metal detectorists" were kicking up a fuss on their forums that I'd made reference to a some pretty egregious examples of bad practice that some among their number had gaily posted up on You Tube. As is the way of these things, the moment it was realised that outsiders were looking at this material and making judgements other than "wot 'erritidge 'eroes these blokes are" (which was the intent presumably of the candid filming and broadcasting), the videos were taken down. But my posts were not. I think the fact that the link goes to a "this video has been deleted" message is equally telling. It tells of the fact that "metal detectorists" (artefact hunters) are NOT willing to discuss what they do with the rest of us. They obviously regard the archaeological heritage as theirs and theirs alone, and are not going to listen to what others think should be done with it. Hiding the evidence of what they actually do and say is a very visible symptom of precisely that attitude. To maintain the portable antiquity SCAM perpetrated on the rest of society for as long as possible.

These people apparently have very short attention spans so it is that again the topic of the old post here about the "Blaydon Boyz" video is dragged up to incite rage and indignation in the artefact hunting community. The way this rally was reported is also something they'd rather I'd not brought up on a blog about archaeological conservation.

Typical also is the reaction "just ignore Barford's blogs". That's right guys, head in the sand and pretend you don't see it. These are not real issues are they? I mean not like real issues that really responsible "detectorists" (instead of pretend-responsible "detectorists") would be looking at and trying to do something about. After all, the only things at stake are the preservation of the archaeological record, and the degree to which your hobby can be represented as a legitimate use of the archaeological record. You just carry on ignoring and let people outside the hobby form their own judgement about that.

UPDATE 14.10.11
Quelle surprise, while the thread was visible to all and sundry yesterday, access seems to be blocked today for some readers in some parts of the world at least. Are you one of them? Follow the link and see if you can see "responsible detectorists" discussing conservation and standards.

Vignette: the typical pose of could-not-care-less-"metal-detecting".