Monday 14 August 2017

Bronze Age hoard near Lancaster NOT 'a Chance Discovery'


Lusting after all the nice artefacts they'll find, Dig Venture is excited that they'll get to excavate site of Bronze Age hoard near Lancaster in September (Lisa Westcott Wilkins, 11 August, 2017)
A team of archaeologists from DigVentures, Durham University and the Portable Antiquities Scheme will return to Lancashire this September to investigate an untouched Bronze Age barrow near Lancaster, where a chance discovery by an amateur metal detectorist has unearthed the most spectacular hoard of this period ever discovered in North West England. The project has secured the support of the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) North West region and has received a grant of £59,300. Made possible by National Lottery players, the project will investigate the site where the hoard was found, and follows on from dig last year also in the local area, during which the team discovered a rare Early Bronze Age (2200 – 1600 BC) funerary urn, known as a Food Vessel, which is now undergoing further research.
One look at the photo of the site makes one wonder just what kind of eye-intellect disconectivity some British archaeologists have.

Totally featureless landscape under PASTURE in Lancashire,
'just right' for artefact hunting, innit?
Hands up, who CANNOT see what looks like a barrow right in the centre of this photo? By what measure of British bonkerness is running an artefact-detection tool over such a thing and finding something a 'chance discovery'? Many artefact hunters target precisely such features because they know they will find something there.

Besides which this is an 'untouched' site - until the metal detectorists got there with their digging tools, and its under pasture, so should be out of bounds for responsible detectorists - so if irresponsible detecting is going on (targeting obvious sites under pasture) will a reward be withheld?


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