As if Britain hadn’t been sufficiently humiliated this week!

Heritage Action: 'As if Britain hadn’t been sufficiently humiliated this week!' point out the rather shocking situation that at the “Archaeology in Wiltshire” conference in Devizes, it is unlikely that on the agenda will be one local event affecting the archaeology:

last year at Wootton Bassett, just 15 miles away, there was a Rotary sponsored Metal Detecting rally, on ridge and furrow pasture (i.e. undisturbed pasture, so in total defiance of archaeological advice)? [...] isn’t the fact that was the twenty second rally in the Wootton Bassett area – yes the twenty second – worth a discussion session? Perhaps it could be titled: “How the hell have we let Britain’s past be hijacked?”

Interestingly, a check on how "responsibly" this is being done if the massive number of eleven finds from the parish in the PAS database. Repeat: eleven. Search the database for the finds from the only rally they have a record of from that place and you'll get 'Your search has produced no results'Well, that's a surprise, isn't it (not)? So, why is that not being discussed then? What kind of archaeological backwater is Wiltshire?