A Ten-year Old Explains Artefact Hunting

"Polly g" explains collection-driven exploitation of the archaeological record (artefact hunting:

Polly g 1 year ago to all the archeologist that look down on detectorists and claim they can't play any part in the archeology world. I say these coins would have been nothing more than a pile of blue/green corrosion be time you found them, we must work together, as we the detectorists aren't going away, I think this quote sums it up perfectly [angry archeologist] "how dare they come in here with their detectors digging up relic's "and not a day done in university" studying how to do it" that's what its is, anger that a detector can do more than any amount of education can, they can see underground. proof that most detectorists aren't out for a quick buck,and history matters much more than money, they are capable of taking artifacts from the ground and the imperative information of the find at the same time, ive known many guys who bought a detector in the hope of making a quick buck, and ALL gave up after they found out it takes 100s of hours to find anything of value and the chances of striking it rich are 1 in a 100000, you be quicker working a Walmart for the same hours spent detecting

 To "play a part in the archaeology world" and write up a project, basic literacy skills are necessary. The notion that these coins are going to turn overnight "into a pile of blue/green corrosion" ignores basic chemistry (again something schools teach). The problem with collection-driven exploitation of teh archaeological record is not "jealousy" that detectors can find more than a university degree (eh?) or that there's no money in it, are really beside the point.

Also "Polly" really should pay more attention in maths lessons. If there are 27000 detectorists in the country and each year they find a thousand Treasure items, the chances of finding one in any year is 1:27. If they are in the field ten years that drops to one in three in that period. But then in ten years they will have found several hundred non-Treasure finds Let's say 300. Allow me to quote a fragment of a forthcoming text:

Leaving aside the coins, the small objects on offer on eBay in August 2019 ranged in sale price (“buy now” prices only were analysed) between £ 5 and several over £1000. Of these, 70% of the objects were on sale for £ 5-40, a further 18% were valued in the middle range of £40-110, while the remaining 12% were offered for higher prices.

300 artefacts at 30 quid each is nine thousand quid. That's £9000 added to the value of their collections even if they do not sell them straight away. How much of that does the landowner ever see?