A blog commenting on various aspects of the private collecting and trade in archaeological artefacts today and their effect on the archaeological record.
Sunday, 11 March 2012
Another One
. One of the artefact collectors' "justifications" is that archaeology is not really a discipline anyone can take very seriously (therefore "why protect the evidence which it and future generations of scholars will use to do it?"). We recently saw a coin-dealing Philistine Physicist saying it was "not a science" so therefore worthless. Now we have another one, Bournemouth PAS/CBA-hating metal detectorist John Howland has the same approach ('An Arkie whines', March 6th 2012):
"Archaeology is not science….it’s guesswork, and they often get it wrong. Remember Piltdown Man, the Hitler Diaries…."
This blogger hates archaeologists so much, yet it turns out he has only a foggy idea what it actually is. Archaeologists, they dig up dinosaurs don't they?
British archaeologist living and working in Warsaw, Poland. Since the early 1990s (or even longer) a primary interest has been research on artefact hunting and collecting and the market in portable antiquities in the international context and their effect on the archaeological record.
"coiney" - a term I use for private collector of dug up ancient coins, particularly a member of the Moneta-L forum or the ACCG
"heap-of-artefacts-on-a-table-collecting" the term rather speaks for itself, an accumulation of loose artefacts with no attempt to link each item with documented origins. Most often used to refer to metal detectorists (ice-cream tubs-full) and ancient coin collectors (Roman coins sold in aggregated bulk lots)
"tekkie" - metal detectorist/metal detecting (a form of artefact hunting)
CDE - Collection-Driven Exploitation of archaeological sites
CPAC - Cultural Property Advisory Committee [US]
FLO - Finds Liaison Officer (post in the PAS)
HER - Historic Environment Record [UK]
IAPN - International Association of Professional Numismatists
MENA - Middle East and North Africa
PAS - Portable Antiquities Scheme
PNG - Professional Numismatists' Guild
UNESCO - United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
UNESCO 1970 Convention - Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property
One of the artefact collectors' "justifications" is that archaeology is not really a discipline anyone can take very seriously (therefore "why protect the evidence which it and future generations of scholars will use to do it?"). We recently saw a coin-dealing Philistine Physicist saying it was "not a science" so therefore worthless. Now we have another one, Bournemouth PAS/CBA-hating metal detectorist John Howland has the same approach ('An Arkie whines', March 6th 2012): 
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