The Best Places to Find TREASURE in UK, Courtesy of the PAS

ARCHAEOLOGISTS have discovered 

tens of thousands of ancient artefacts in 

the UK, a remarkable new map has revealed.

Archaeology map: More than 44,000 archaeological items have been discovered by metal detectors (Image: metals4U/Hampshire Cultural Trust)

Interesting take on the PAS archive by Tom Fish: 'Archaeology map pinpoints the BEST places in the UK to find buried treasure' Express Fri, Jul 24, 2020

New research by online metals retailer metals4U has revealed the most lucrative areas of the UK to go metal detecting. More than 44,000 archaeological items have been discovered by metal detectors in the past 12 months, meaning 120 pieces of treasure are unearthed every day. The data shows [sic] that there is still plenty out there to discover And this number is likely to rise, with Brits looking for new outdoor pastimes to enjoy during their summer staycations. Following Norfolk, Leicestershire and Suffolk are the next best hotspots for finding treasure, with 4,101 and 3,105 discoveries respectively in the past year. Most archaeological items originated from the Roman, Medieval and Post Medieval periods.

Metals4U appears to be a tool retailer and metal supplier from Leeds (metals4U Ltd, Armitage Works, Sandbeck Way, Wetherby, LS22 7DN). Quite what their interest in artefact hunting is remains unclear. They seem to confuse "the UK" with England and Wales. It is also not really clear when this "last twelve months" was, because the finds numbers show it is not July 20th 2019-Jul 20th 2020. Possibly this is from a recent PAS annual report.

The 10 regions with the most treasure discoveries in the past 12 months:
Norfolk - 6,527; Leicestershire - 4,101; Suffolk - 3,105; Lincolnshire - 2,650; Hampshire - 2,006; Wiltshire - 1,689; Oxfordshire - 1,647; North Yorkshire - 1,508
East Riding of Yorkshire - 1,322; Somerset - 1,209.     
In Norfolk, coins (2,142) were the most commonly found object, followed by buckles (450), pots (206) and brooches (201). Other fascinating finds included a Bronze Age sword, a Medieval chandelier and various post-medieval toys. For those interested in the Roman period, Suffolk is the place to go, with over 1,500 objects found from that era in the past year. These included a copper ring and a folding knife potentially dating back to 43AD, when Emperor Claudius ordered four legions to conquer Britain. Many detectors dream of finding gold and in the last year, 216 items made from the precious metal were discovered in the UK.Hampshire was the UK's gold capital, with 25 objects unearthed, including a stunning 7th-century pendant.

But it gets worse, the industrialist encourages looting: 

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.”

No mention of the laws, no mention of the Code of Practice, no mention of the Portable Antiquities Scheme (that is not meeting finders anyway), no mention of finding out something about archaeology before (or even instead). Just a totally irresponsible suggestion to go out and loot the past for anything that takes your fancy and you can carry away.   I wonder what kind of an "environmental policy" and "social responsibility policy" this limited company has.

To me, this irresponsible messaging says "boycot Metals4U" until they sort this out.

Their email contact form does not work for me, it keeps timing out, but they give something called a "fax number".