Victory for Reason: "Citizen archaeology" to be Dropped by BM

The 'Learning, Audiences and Volunteers' Department of the British Museum seems now to have split from the Propaganda Wing in the discussion about “citizen archaeology”. But it took some citizen conservationists to help them to decide to do this (information is lacking about the input from Britain's archaeological bodies on this). Heritage action write:

We’ve been corresponding with the BM (Susan Raikes, Head of the Dept of Volunteers and Audiences). It looks like they’re going to desist from implying metal detecting is citizen archaeology. We had put to her that using that phrase misinforms landowners by omission for it fails to reveal what her predecessor accepted – that 70% of detectorists don’t report their finds. Her reply was heartening: “Thank you very much for this – I have noted your point. I don’t believe that we have ever used the term in the way that you describe it here, and I will endeavour to ensure that this sort of misinterpretation cannot be inferred from our use of language in the future. With thanks.”

So hopefully the inappropriate phrase “citizen archaeology” will now be dropped from their press statements on artefact hunting and collecting. Good. It was a bonkers idea in the first place.