Charles Garrett (2009) '
Introduction To EuropeanMetal Detecting', Garland Texas. Quite an eye-opener to see how a US metal detector manufacturer sees Europe as being a free-for-all:
p. 10:'During my years of testing metal detectors,
I have had the pleasure of recovering treasures
in England, Scotland, France, Spain, Germany
and Italy. Finding my first Roman coin is an experience I shall never forget'.
How were the search permits organised for these trips, if - as the forums attest - locals find getting landowners' permissions so difficult? In particular specific permits are needed for Italy, Spain, some lands of Germany, and the fate of the artefacts is different in each country - how was this dealt with, an agent?
p.15: I found a coin cache in a plowed field in
during one of my European trips. I was scanning near an old embankment [where?] when I dug the
first coin. In an area of about an arm’s width,
I had soon unearthed another 20 ancient coins.
The coins are from the 400 BC period and
I figure they had once been in some sort of
bag when they were buried.[...] Some of these coins
from the cache are on display in the Garrett
Museum in Garland, Texas'.
Alongside the export licence I trust. Because without it, this is what we call "looting", whichever 'European country' it was found in.
pp 15-16: 'My son Vaughan accompanied me on a
two-week detecting expedition through Spain,
France, Italy, Germany, England and Scotland.
Among other places, we visited the stone and
turf fortification in northern England known as
Hadrian’s wall. [...] its remnants are now a popular
tourist site [...] Searching along this ancient frontier border [where?] was certainly a highlight of my European hunting experiences.
Apart from being tautology, it is also illegal. How were the permits arranged for Spain, France, Italy and Germany? What happened to the finds from these countries? Were the English finds recorded by the PAS and was an export licence applied for? Why is there no mention of this in the book (though there is a reference to (only) the English/Welsh Code of Best Practice for Responsible Metal Detecting (pp 58-62). Then he goes on to talk about targeting known sites:
pp 48-9: 'where a structure is well
known to have existed you can search the areas
surrounding it. I spent a week one time just to
search the area around an early English fort site
used in the late 1700s to defend against French
troops [where?]. I was by myself and I literally worked
from dusk to dawn to make the most of my limited time.
By the end of the week I had accumulated
some 500 relics. [...] My preferred metal detecting method was
in the All-Metal mode with my sensitivity set
to detect as deep as possible. Nothing was
overlooked. Fortunately, I did not have to fight
heavily mineralized ground conditions in this
area. Because of this fort’s somewhat remote
location, I had little tourist trash (cans, pop
tops) to contend with'.
This site was not, actually, 'protected' in some way was it that there was still so much material to be found? Where are these artefacts now stored, and how are they labelled? How did Mr Garrett determine who the landowner was? In the entire book, there is no mention of this (see p. 53 about what he considers to be a "treasure hunting opportunity")
Again, pp. 53-4: 'The caretaker of an old castle in Spain we
visited [where?] offered to let me come back sometime
and do some thorough searching. Knowing how
things often worked out, I decided to at least
scan a few minutes before we had to leave. In
the end, we did not make it back there but I did
make a great recovery during that short time of
searching: an ancient crossbow point. For once,
I was proud of myself for seizing the moment! Never pass up a chance to scan.
Of course, though it seems the brash Texan is oblivious to that, the 'caretaker' has no legal authority either to allow access to a property, nor allow the removal of artefacts from it. There is no cure for stupidity either:
I made a hunting
trip to an area near Koblenz, Germany. Some
of our German friends were proud to show us
various World War II German Army relics they
had discovered with their metal detectors.
We returned to one of these areas and I was
thrilled with the number of items we were able
to detect. In all, our detecting team recovered
an estimated 2,000 pounds of relics. We dug up
countless bullets and ammunition clips as well
as some helmets and even hand grenades. Such
military artifacts should be treated with great
caution. When in doubt about discovered ordnance, notify your local authorities versus attempting to dig it up. European antiquity laws[sic]
have become more stringent regarding exactly
how such discoveries must be reported
He shows a photo of an intact clip of Mauser bullets that he'd found. We trust he did not take them on the aeroplane home in that state. And, from a metal detector manufacturer (p. 63):
SPECIAL ADVICE
Take advantage of new metal detector
technology. There’s more treasure to be found
today than you could find 40 years ago. I know
this to be true because the technology of today’s metal detectors is superior to those I used
decades ago. Deeper ground penetration and
better target discrimination allow European
detectorists to find items they simply could not
detect years ago.
So more archaeological evidence than ever before is threatened by these carefree people.
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