Over in darkest Wales, Forum member "Stever" gets a question off his chest (
March 28, 2013, 08:56:43 PM):
Just though i would through [throw? PMB] this question out there why is it that metal detectorists are required to cooperate with archies yet they dont for the most part with us[?]
Member "Chef Geoff" ("Finds 2013 Roman grots 14 Fibula 2") is in some doubt about what he means, and enquires: "
In what way don't they cooperate and what sort would you like to see?". Stever explains (
Reply #2 on: March 28, 2013, 09:38:36 PM):
hi geoff i went over to talk to one ealier on a site i knew there was history on but he was rude and basically slagged off us detectorists. i guess just a bit of mutual respect would be nice geoff thats all. im just ranting really but i dont get why on earth they think they have more rights than us[.]
The reply is interesting. Chef Geoff (
Reply #3 on: March 28, 2013, 09:53:36 PM) opines:
Basically because they do. Unfortunately Steve archaeologists see a lot of the damage that we detectorists can cause to a sight(sic), not only Nighthawks but the everyday hobbyist who digs through stratification removing dating evidence.
Yes I think most now realise that we have added hundreds of sites to the record but they are also well aware that thousands of detectorists go out every weekend and don't record their finds which takes away evidence not add to it.
There are two significant things about that comment.
The first is that I'm pretty sure that "Chef Geoff" wouldn't have said that a few years ago. Secondly, it sounds to me like he's saying stuff he has learned from blogs like this one rather than from the PAS. The PAS do not say things like that in their "outreach". More to the point, is it true that British jobsworth archaeologists are becoming more sceptical about partnering artefact hunting than a few years back? Oh, I hope so. Time they woke up to where the Pied Pipers of Bloomsbury are trying to lead them.
3 comments:
A general shifting of attitude towards detectorists OR a rude and arrogant individual ?
fortunately the anti-detectorists seem to be old-school guys who are being replaced with progressive open minded types.
A general shifting of attitude towards detectorists OR a rude and arrogant individual ?
fortunately the anti-detectorists seem to be old-school guys who are being replaced with progressive open minded types.
First of all, there is the matter of people wandering onto a site where work is going on and expecting the archaeologist to drop everything and chat with them. It's a place of work, often to a tight schedule, so I don't know if you are always willing to spend a lot of time chatting to (for example) the electrician fixing the wiring in your shop or office when you are trying to work. So I am not sure how "rude and arrogant" it is to be brief or curt, when somebody is interrupting your work.
I would not be so sure that the "anti-detectorists" are "old-school guys" and that one necessarily has to have a "closed" mind to question received wisdom. I would have thought the opposite is the case. It's the jobsworth archaeologists with the closed minds that cannot be bothered to examine both sides of the argument and just "go along with the FLO" as it were.
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