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North of the English border is a civilised country called Scotland. There, the Crown can claim any archaeological
objects found; members of the public finding ancient objects in the ground have no ownership rights, and are obliged by law to report them to the authorities, represented by the Queen’s and Lord Treasurers Remembrancer (QLTR). The Scottish Archaeological Finds Allocation Panel (SAFAP) the National Museums of
Scotland, the Treasure Trove Unit then deal with the
discoveries. Until recently some 300 finds a year were being reported, many of them by metal detector users. In the past year however in total
North of the English border is a civilised country called Scotland. There, the Crown can claim any archaeological
objects found; members of the public finding ancient objects in the ground have no ownership rights, and are obliged by law to report them to the authorities, represented by the Queen’s and Lord Treasurers Remembrancer (QLTR). The Scottish Archaeological Finds Allocation Panel (SAFAP) the National Museums of
Scotland, the Treasure Trove Unit then deal with the
discoveries. Until recently some 300 finds a year were being reported, many of them by metal detector users. In the past year however in total152 artefacts were claimed by the Crown and gifted to museums, while 87 were returned to finders. Rewards totalling £36,535 have been claimed, with individual pay-outs ranging from £15 to £6,000, the seventh annual Treasure Trove Report revealed.Maybe if England went the way that Wales is headed and scrapped the PAS, the damage done to archaeological sites by those who are led to believe that hoovering collectables from the archaeological record is in some way "helpful' to archaeology, would also decline.
QLTR Catherine Dyer said [...] “Thanks should also be given to the hundreds of members of the public who have played an important part by reporting their finds and in doing so have assisted in preserving the history of Scotland for all to enjoy.”
3 comments:
You should read my summary of the discussion of a talk at a American Bar Association meeting in Dublin:
Stuart Campbell (“SC”) next discussed Scottish law. The Scots have retained common law treasure trove. Treasure trove derives from medieval law. Awarding found treasure to the King was a way to add money to the treasury. The concept is similar to an intestate estate going to the crown. Over time, rewards were offered to finders. Today, Scotland offers fair market awards to finders who comply with the law. The weakness of common law is its lack of definition. However, this lack of definition also allows for flexibility. Any system needs public buy-in making it essential to offer awards. The general public typically views illicit excavation as being no worse than a traffic violation. Over time, public education can make people change behavior. For example, drunk driving is no longer publicly acceptable. There are only about 400 metal detectorists in Scotland. In contrast, there are approximately 10,000 in England and Wales. Accordingly, Scottish officials have to deal with fewer finds and fewer problems than their English and Welsh.
http://culturalpropertyobserver.blogspot.com/2012/03/future-of-recording-past-in-england.html
It sounds like you would actually be much happier with the Irish system, though of course, there are far fewer coins to be found there compared to England and Wales and even Scotland. (Archaeologists do find some magnificant Celtic artifacts and later Viking era coinage.)
"my summary of the discussion of a talk at a American Bar Association meeting in Dublin"
Should I? Oh.
"There are only about 400 metal detectorists in Scotland. "
Well, quite, in the past. But now you are not going to tell me that 400 responsible, law-abiding Scottish metal detectorists only made 240 finds in a whole year searching. Obviously (unless the number of detectorists doing it illegally - so-called "nighthawks" - is much greater than south of the border), there must now be less than "400".
"there are far fewer coins to be found there "
Believe it or not, finding "coins' is not all artefact hunterts are interested in...
Andrew Nicholson (HER Officer of
Dumfries and Galloway Council) is having trouble getting through the firewall of his computers at work. He wanted to add a comment on my (tongue-in-cheek) remarks about detectorists reporting finds - or not - in Scotland. Here it is:
"It should be noted that whilst the TTU (all one and a half of them to cover the whole country – compare that with PAS staffing levels!) have recorded 240 finds as part of the TT process, it would be unfair to suggest that this represents the total sum of finds made, including those by detectorists. Down here a lot of finds are declared, and submitted to the local museum – and this does include non-metallic materials, such as pottery, and are subsequently photographed and recorded. In order to be most efficient with the highly limited resources available to the TTU, images of finds are sent to the TTU, who then select which material should be forwarded to them for further examination and consideration as part of the TT process. I would reckon, roughly, that only 10-20% of the material found and submitted by detectorists down here actually goes forward for TT, but it is certainly not the case that the other 80-90% is unseen and unrecorded. Not that I am saying that all detectorists here declare their finds, notwithstanding the legal position, just that the apparently low figures in relation to England may be misleading, and not just because we have fewer coins [smiley]”
Fair comment, thanks for that clarification.
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