Matals4U says that 'Oxfordshire is a top county for finding buried treasures'

Paul McFayden, authority
(for some) on archaeological
 discoveries (LinkedIn)

Rebecca Whittaker ('Oxfordshire is a top county for finding buried treasures' Oxford Mail 24th July) has a good idea for a story, she saw it in the Express:

Oxfordshire has been revealed as a top destination for treasure hunters with 1,647 items discovered by metal detectors since June 2019. Research from metals4U found that over 44,000 historical items have been unearthed in the last 12 months in the country. Treasure hunters have found a Bronze Age sword, gold, a copper ring and a folding knife that could date back to 43AD, when Emperor Claudius ordered four legions to conquer Britain. Oxfordshire takes the 7th place in the rankings of the top ten regions with the most treasure discoveries in the past 12 months. Paul McFadyen, managing director of metals4U, said: “It’s incredible to see the number and variety of discoveries in the past 12 months, from as far back as 4,000BC and throughout the ages. The data shows that there is still plenty out there to discover. “With many staying in the UK this summer, we wanted to highlight metal detecting as a fun pass-time that you can enjoy outdoors whilst social distancing and hopefully inspire people to have a go.”

What a shame that a "newspaper' in a university tow could not actually ask somebody who knows about archaeology to make a comment. Mr McFayden was good enough an authority for them, I guess. There are already something like an estimated 27000 people "having a go" - and the PAS cannot cope even without the coronavirus, how irresponsible to suggest that even more should be out there digging into the archaeological record for bits to take away.