How it Works Now: PAS in Lockdown (North and East Yorkshire)

Taking precautions

I wrote to the Yorkshire FLO to thank her for answering a query I had sent and got back this automated reply, and thought several aspects were of interest:

Thank you for your e-mail.

Due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and the extended closure of the Yorkshire Museum I am currently working from home. I will respond to your message as soon as I can, but this may take longer than usual.

Finds Recording

Though PAS is continuing to work as much as possible, we cannot currently meet with finders either to accept new finds for recording or to return finds already in our care. All events have also been cancelled until April 2021.

Please keep hold of any finds you would like to have recorded, individually bagged and labelled with the minimum 8-figure grid reference and date of discovery, for full recording at a later date in accordance with the Code of Practice for Responsible Metal-Detecting in England and Wales.

Finds Identification

I am unable to record finds from e-mailed images at present. If you would like a brief identification of an object, and to know if it is eligible for recording with the Portable Antiquities Scheme at a future date, please send:

·        Digital images of the front, back and side of the object with a scale bar or ruler

·        The grid reference of the find spot (minimum 8-figure NGR)

·        The date of discovery

Treasure

Finds of potential Treasure must still be reported within 14 days in accordance with the Treasure Act 1996. We are working to deal with finds of potential Treasure remotely so that we can keep the process moving as much as possible. In order to help with this, if you have an object which you believe may constitute potential Treasure, please send the following details by e-mail, and await further instruction.

·        The name, postal address and e-mail address of the finder

·        The full name, postal address and e-mail address of the landowner and occupier (in cases of tenanted land)

·        A minimum 8-figure National Grid Reference (NGR) for where the find was made (see guide)

·        The depth at which the object was discovered

·        The type of land on which it was found (i.e. cultivated or pasture)

·        Date of discovery

·        Weights and measurements

·        Digital photographs (see guide)

Your initial e-mail will satisfy the 14 day notification period required under the Treasure Act.

The necessary precautions mean there may be delays in the Treasure process and many of the staff involved with Treasure at the British Museum are on furlough leave.

Further Information

The DCMS has published updated guidance for members of the public on searching for archaeological finds in England during the COVID-19 pandemic. Please read it and follow the advice: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/guidance-on-searching-for-archaeological-finds-in-england-during-covid-19

More information on the way PAS is working in Yorkshire at the moment can be found on the Yorkshire County Pages: https://finds.org.uk/counties/yorkshire/artefacts-and-coins/ and on the PAS Yorkshire Facebook page in the pinned post: https://www.facebook.com/YorkshirePAS/. Do check back for updates.

Thank you for your understanding, patience and cooperation during this time.

Best wishes,

Rebecca Griffiths

Finds Liaison Officer for North and East Yorkshire

First of all, those national guidelines are from before the summer, in Britain, the regulations of what you can and cannot do in certain areas have become more complicated, yet the guidelines have not been updated to reflect that. So referring local enquirers to that without comment is a bit awkward. It remains to be seen whether the pandemic will have been dissipated in Yorkshire (or anywhere in Bonkers Britain) by "April 2021". 

Note, the whole emphasis here is on "us recording your finds", it seems that this is what the PAS has become now. No mention of answering public enquiries or supplying any other kind of information as per the original aims of the Scheme. 

Note three "services" provided, recording your finds (later), identifying your finds (I'll do it now, but supply me the same information - thank goodness they are not asked to weigh stuff) and dealing with your treasure (yay! We'll do it as soon as possible). I would say that, given the actual text of sections 8 and 9 of the Treasure Act, and the fact that the matter is complicated if the objects were found and then reported in different administrative districts, giving the statement "Your initial e-mail will satisfy the 14 day notification period required under the Treasure Act" without citing its actual legal basis (the Order referred to in the Act) is incorrect administrative practice.  And here, they do want the weight... 

Note that only in the latter case is any interest shown in establishing the ownership of the items presented. Why? In any case, suppose the landowner lent the finder the artefacts for responsible recording but wants them back. There is also no mention here of self-recording/self-recorders, why? 

There is going to be a huge backlog if in however-many-weeks-from-now, people start producing all over the country the tens of thousands of artefacts they are finding now and keeping back alongside what they will be finding in the future.