Sophie Flynn (Essex FLO) is Invited to Tell me What's What...

Here, Sophie, is a space for you. Send me your comments and I will publish them in full. [emoticon]

Yesterday, Ms Flynn posted on Twitter some fluff about the TV series 'Detectorists' suggesting that the 'star', McKenzie Crook should mention the PAS and how they are there to 'help',

Given that most of the objects they record now come from Collection Driven Exploitation of the finite and fragile archaeological record by artefact hunting metal detectorists, I tweeted her with a perfectly valid question:

Paul Barford‏ @PortantIssues 19 godz.19 godzin temu

W odpowiedzi do @EssexFLO @Detectorists

"help" who do what Sophie?

Now, I'll give her her dues. Most FLOs would run a mile from such a question from me. They prefer patting tekkies on the head and posting their finds up on Twitter with cutesey texts (any day now we'll have the 'Twelve days of Christmas' finds going up - HOW many "gold rings"?). Anyway, she tried:

Sophie Flynn‏ @EssexFLO 19 godz.19 godzin temu

‘Help’ with the admistration of the Act, ‘help’ people discover more about their local history and heritage, ‘help’ responsible detectorisrs understand the opportunities they can bring to the study of archaeology... the list goes on Paul, but I shan’t bore you [smiley emoticon]

FLOs do not read this blog, so they do not know what position I occupy on precisely these issues. That would explain why an otherwise intelligent girl (I trust) gave such a dumbdown answer. So what is she trying to say...  and does not what she said raise more questions than she answered? I replied in several tweets:

Paul Barford‏ @PortantIssues 23 min23 minuty temu

Forgive me if I am wrong, but surely the PAS was set up 20 years ago not to deal with Treasure, which the Act establishes goes through other channels, but to deal with NON-Treasure material. Somehow that distinction seems to be lost - with Treasure now being reported twice

Meaning in the Treasure Reports (which is what the Treasure Act requires) and the PAS database, which is extralegal, not in the Act, duplicates effort and information and merely serves to bulk out 'finds reported' numbers. As for her second point...

Paul Barford‏ @PortantIssues 38 min.38 minut temu

W odpowiedzi do @EssexFLO @Detectorists

There's more to "local heritage and heritage" than a few loose coins pulled out of a field somewhere. We left the object-centric view of the past in about 1870 - PAS promotes a very atavistic 'view of the past', don't you think? Not a boring question - quite a fundamental one.

The third issue is indeed a pretty fundamental one, not only about the terminology, but the loopy ideas hiding behind it...

Paul Barford‏ @PortantIssues 36 min.36 minut temu

W odpowiedzi do @EssexFLO @Detectorists

What is "responsible", please, about any form of *Collection Driven Exploitation of the Archaeological Record*? Can looting in Syria, Egypt etc be made "responsible' by installing a PAS-clone in Damascus or Edfu? Or Central America? Fundamental question, have you an answer?

I think she must have, as she apparently has no qualms about working with these people (because she took the job). Will she be bold enough to share it with us?  Then those alleged opportunities which supposedly mitigate the huge damage done:

Paul Barford‏ @PortantIssues 37 min.37 minut temu

W odpowiedzi do @EssexFLO @Detectorists

What "opportunities" does Collection-Driven Exploitation of the basic body of evidence by rough and ready means (eg carrier bags and wallpaper scrapers in fading light at Lenborough) "bring to the study of" real archaeology? Most metal detected finds are NOT reported, as we all know

So, even the 'opportunities' she (apparently) sees have been offset by a far larger number of missed 'opportunities' and this has been going on for twenty years.  And to conclude, her parting comment

Paul Barford‏ @PortantIssues 37 min.37 minut temu

W odpowiedzi do @EssexFLO @Detectorists

" I shan’t bore you [emoticon]".

I assure you, you will not bore me if you give proper answers to my questions, its the superficial ones which we've all heard mindlessly chanted like a mantra so many times before that are the boring and intellectually bankrupt ones.

adding:

Paul Barford‏ @PortantIssues 36 min.36 minut temu

W odpowiedzi do @EssexFLO @Detectorists

I invite you to make use of my blog's comments section for a proper reply, no space on Tewitter: http://paul-barford.blogspot.com/2017/12/sophie-flynn-essex-flo-is-invited-to.html …

Right, start holding your breath... now. No, don't. She's probably awaiting instructions from Bloomsbury.