takes umbrage with the archaeologist that helped prevent the commercial looting of a nationally important site at All Cannings that a (secret) metal detecting group he has gone artefact hunting with:
I was out at another, sadly deep-ploughed, site in Wiltshire, recording site locations with in-situ photographs and 10 figure grid references in preparation for submitting finds to the PAS via an FLO, but not Wiltshire's FLO now, he's blotted his copybook.But "not now" rather suggests that before he was... before he 'blotted his copybook' by doing what an archaeologist is bound to do. But, there is an interesting turn in the story; because the database is anonymous, people can get away with claiming the truth of whatever fantasy they have about their own rectitude:
PASWiltshire@PasWiltshire W odpowiedzi do @martyngleaden @PortantIssues i jeszcze 4 osóbWhat, none at all? But, but... see his blog here, boasting of what he's found. He also claims not only to be 'a member of a detecting club' (hmmm), but also a 'local HERO' 'with a BA and PhD'. Yeah. He also seems from what the FLO tells us to be one of the 25000 or so non-recording, irresponsible, artefact hunters currently estimated to be clandestinely looting the archaeological record of the UK for personal entertainment and gain that are the real problem that British archaeology pretends not to see.
I'm sorry to have turned such a paragon of responsible detecting away before he had chance to record even a single find with the PAS database then.
I'd like to see artefact hunters taking a pride in the quality of their contribution to the PAS database, let all of them publish online links to the PAS records of all of the finds they have reported there. Why not? Transparency and honesty on behalf of its practitioners will show the real profile of this UK "responsible detecting". What have they got to hide? That the farmers will find out what they took?
Vignette: tell the truth
No comments:
Post a Comment