Saxon Gold Find by Student

Archaeology, or what?

A first year student Tom Lucking, 23, who has been an artefact hunter since he was 11, has found  seventh century coins and jewellery next to a female skeleton in a field near Diss, Norfolk . He is referred to in the media coverage as an "archaeology student' (Kate Pickles, 'Archaeology student discovers 'outstanding' Anglo-Saxon pendant worth £50,000 in first-year dig - and he gets to keep the profits'' Daily Mail, 28 February 2015), which might raise some eyebrows and has got metal detectorists chattering and spluttering away. This seems to be based on the fact that "he enrolled on a landscape history course at the University of East Anglia in September, making the incredible discovery just months later". This seems to be the course concerned (the outline does not appear to be very 'archaeological' at all, indeed the UEA does not have an archaeology department). By what means was this site chosen? This makes it sound like another case of a metal detectorist targeting a known site:

'We knew there was something in that area of the grave, but no-one was expecting anything so significant,' said Tom, from Felixstowe, Suffolk. 

The grave is below plough level. According to the Mail's journalist (PAS have a lot to answer for), apparently now in Great Britain, archaeologists are called "Treasure experts" ("The three-inch jewel encrusted pendant is thought to be the most valuable of the lot with treasure experts describing it as an 'outstanding' piece") and an excavation of an Anglo-Saxon grave is now called "Treasure hunting". Anyway, the article suggests Mr Lucking will be sharing any Treasure reward for the grave goods "the pendant will be subject to a treasure inquest before proceeds of any sale can be split between Tom, the landowner and others on the above dig". Then, perhaps they will use that to finance the analysis of the field documentation and recovered artefacts, placing the grave in context and then publication of their report.

UPDATE 1st March 2015
Within a few hours, Mr Lucking contacted me to explain that the journalist was mistaken in portraying him as an archaeology student - see the comments down below this post for the full text. Note the role of close recording in defining the site.

UPDATE 1st March 2015
Somebody else beat Mr Lucking to clarifying a detectorist's story referring to the Daily Mail article, an "Anonymous" wrote (1 March 2015 at 19:42) adding another layer of mystery to an already clouded story:

Tom is on the first year of an UEA Landscape History course, not an archaeology course. He gives some of his hobby time to provide expert metal detection support for the community archaeology group that he and I are both members of but that doesn't make him (or myself) an archaeologist. He and his colleague have put a lot of work into covering the site and recording finds as part of a detection agreement with the landowner. The rescue dig and accompanying geophysics that followed his discovery and reporting of in situ grave goods (the top of a copper alloy bowl that he promptly covered back over) was the first archaeological work on a previously unknown site.

This "community archaeology group" turns out to be the Suffolk Archaeological Field Group, and the bowl was found "just before Christmas" and the excavation was carried out by Norfolk County Council’s Heritage Environment Service (Dr Andrew Rogerson and Steven Ashley) "over two cold days in January". The grave contained the (Frankish?) bowl at the foot, a ‘chatelaine’, jewellery, apart from the pendant there were two other pendants with reused coins including one of the Frankish king Sigebert III and a" wheel-thrown pot which Dr Rogerson has identified as a definite import, plus a tiny knife and iron buckle". If Mr Lucking was taking part in the survey of the site as part of the Suffolk Archaeological Field Group, I do not see why he should get any kind of Treasure ransom. This exists only because hoiker might not report finds, anything found as part of an excavation automatically becomes part of the record and is covered by any standard practice transfer of title documentation signed as part of the preparation for the excavation.