Heritage Action on Dorset CoinHunterUK Hoard Hoik

"Oh Spiffing! How mad is this?" say Heritage Action about:

A video hosted by a young kid showing a detectorist using a JCB to get down to a Roman coin hoard at a spot determined by the results of an archaeologist’s  geophysical survey!  Could anything be madder? Well, how about the fact the British archaeological Establishment will probably say not a word against it as it’s probably legal innit! Actually, I think we’ll send a link to it to the All Party Parliamentary Archaeology Group. Let’s see if they think, like the kid says, that it’s “awesome”.

I think there is a good case for a change in the law to protect spots where Treasure has been found with a 50m buffer zone, to prevent exactly this kind of crude targeting. The base of that hoard was preserved well below plough level until CoinHunter UK came along with a 'bigga-digga' to hoik the rest out so he can get his Trezzie-cash, one way or another. If the arkies won't dig it out for him and are content to leave it preserved in situ (how many hoiked third century hoards do we need all at once in our museums for goodness' sake?), he'll jolly well do it hisself with the connivance of the landowner and the help of the junior reporter and his mum and dad.