Metal Detecting Under the Microscope: Battle to Stop Time Bandits Selling Off Our History

Let us have a look at a recent newspaper article from a preservationist point of view. Let us look at artefact hunting 'from the ground up', the actual effects of the activity on the preservation of what constitutes the archaeological sites searched by these people for their personal entertainment and profit. From that point of view, it makes not a ha'pennysworth of difference whether Farmer Giles says "Oy, gerroff me land!" (and they come back later) or "OK, but we go fifty fifty on the value". So according to an article in the Yorkshire Post, the authorities in Britain are "battling time bandits who are selling off history", let us have a look at an article (author's name unknown) in the Yorkshire Post  from the perspective of the preservation of the evidence in the ground:

Time Banditry

Investigators have launched a nationwide crackdown on [...] metal detectorists amid fears that centuries-old artefacts are being sold on the internet in a global blackmarket trade. Archaeological experts have revealed there is evidence to suggest historical finds are being bought across the world in a lucrative illicit trade after [...] treasure hunters [...] have targeted internationally-renowned locations. Grave concerns have been voiced that the region’s own sites are being put at dire risk [...] as efforts are intensified to combat the problem. English Heritage is forging closer links with police forces across the country and operations have led to a series of arrests in connection with [attacks] on sites dating back to the pre-historic era. A national team of 14 specialist prosecutors has also been introduced by the Crown Prosecution Service to deal with cases of heritage crime. [...]
Leading archaeologists have told the Yorkshire Post there is evidence that artefacts are being sold on websites such as eBay and via online forums [...] The Portable Antiquities Scheme, based at the British Museum in London, has monitored the sale of antiquities on eBay and noted many metal detector finds were being offered with no provenance or only very vague details. York Council’s archaeologist, John Oxley, claimed [metal detecting] place[s] invaluable historical evidence at risk of being lost forever. He added: “[it] destroys archaeological evidence, [...] metal detectorists [...] are causing a huge amount of damage. There is evidence to suggest that people who are involved in [this] are not interested in unearthing the past, they are motivated by money and only interested in selling on what is Britain’s heritage. [...] “We are aware of groups coming from the North East and elsewhere in the country into Yorkshire to target specific sites. Britain’s history and heritage is world famous, but with that comes very real risks of people wishing to exploit it for their own gain.”

In reality, my deleting just the phrases containing the words "illegal" and "nighthawk" changes very little in that article, it is still true. From the point of view of archaeological resource preservation, it makes not a bit of difference whether Farmer Giles says "Oy, gerroff me land!" (and they come back later) or "OK, but we go fifty fifty on the value".   Who are Time Bandits conservationists should be opposing? JUST the so-called "nighthawks", or all those that unsystematically hoover collectables out of the finite and fragile archaeological record for mere personal entertainment and profit, thus damaging and erasing it? Does - in reality - the fact that a percentage gets a photo and brief description on the PAS database change anything at all? If so, what, and how much, and is that in fact the most important thing here? 


Text based (loosely) on: 'Battle to stop time bandits selling off our history', Yorkshire Post Saturday 30 June 2012


See also the related but different text apparently published at the same time: "Battle on to clip the wings of nighthawk pillagers", Yorkshire Post Published on Saturday 30 June 2012.

Vignette: "Metal detectors are at the centre of an investigation. (Picture posed by model)" [Yorkshire Post] [It would seem that the man involved insisted on being silhouetted and identified as a posed model, in case he was recognised and mistaken in the street as being a metal detectorist...].