Men Armed with Metal Detectors Planned to 'Delete History' For Cash: Appeal Dismissed.

Two men jailed over trying clandestinely to dispose of items from a hoard of Viking treasure have failed in a bid to have their sentences reduced ( Paul Britton

'Armed with metal detectors, they planned to 'delete history'...' Manchester Evening News).

Two metal detectorists [...] who planned to 'delete history' by illegally selling Anglo-Saxon coins have had bids to reduce their sentences dismissed by the Court of Appeal. Roger Pilling, 76, and Craig Best, 48, were convicted of conspiring to sell 44 ninth-century coins worth £766,000 and jailed for five years and two months at Durham Crown Court in May, 2023.[...] The two men attempted to sell the coins [...] to someone they believed was a US buyer but who was in fact an undercover police officer. [...] Best, previously of Bishop Auckland, County Durham, was arrested with three coins at a Durham hotel in May 2019 in a police sting operation. [...] Pilling was arrested at his home in Loveclough, Rossendale, Lancashire, with a further 41 coins seized.[...] The sentencing judge found that the 44 coins were part of a larger, undeclared find known as the Herefordshire or Leominster Hoard, which was discovered in 2015 and is worth millions of pounds, but which was also not declared.

OTD

 

65 years ago (29 October 1959) the first comic book about the adventures of Asterix was published.

Russia Deliberately Attacks UNESCO Site, Survived Nazis but Not Putin

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A Russian guided bomb attack on Kharkiv on Monday severely damaging the Derzhprom in Kharkiv, one of the world's most famous constructivist buildings and one of the most celebrated landmarks in Ukraine’s second city, dating from 1925-8 and under provisional enhanced UNESCO protection. Three people were killed in the 9pm strike, Governor Oleh Syniehubov said. Six people were injured, adding to 13 wounded in an earlier overnight bomb attack on the city. Rescuers are searching for other victims, including children, who may still be trapped under the rubble.

UK and Europe Purchasing Power Index

"The annual purchasing power index compiled by GfK, the largest market research company in Germany, looks at how much people have to spend on food, housing, services, energy costs, private pensions, insurance, holidays, mobility and consumer purchases after paying taxes.

Its report for 2024 found that the purchasing power of the average European was €18,768. There were, however, large disparities between countries, as well as between regions within many countries".

To what extent does this map predict the prevalence of antiquities collecting? Certainly I think the clhigher values for the UK, Austria, Germany and Switzerlasne would fit what we might suspect, but Norway for example?

Historic Coins Found by Metal Detectorists Acquired for Record £4.3m

Salma Ouaguira, 'Norman coin hoard becomes England’s most valuable treasure find after being sold for record-breaking sum', Independant 22.10.2024.

A group of metal detectorists uncovered an extraordinary hoard of 2,584 ancient coins in a Somerset field valued at £4.3million. The 11th-century coin trove, known as the Chew Valley Hoard, is now England’s most valuable treasure find, revealing new information about the historical transition following the Norman Conquest. The set includes pennies depicting William the Conqueror and Harold II, and a number of coins of William I issued after his coronation in 1066. Adam Staples, 48, discovered the coins in 2019 with his girlfriend at the time, Lisa Grace, and five friends, but had to wait for years to secure the payout.

So now, the tekkies have got their money and we will sit back and wait for the full report of the hoard (die links and all) to learn all that "new information about the historical transition following the Norman Conquest" (sic) it reveals, even though it was ripped out of ts context by the finders. This will be a monograph worth waiting for - telling about the beginning of the English nation, Eine Hervorragend Nationale Geschichte, as they say. As they were 'training' others, it would've been the perfect opportunity to teach them 'Hey, we have something big and likely important, let's re-bury, call for PAS to come running over the horizon to save the day (excavate and record the find)'. Din't happen, did it. Of course if ONLY there were a Code of Practice or two in England and Wales that say what should happen in such cases, just ... what, what's that, you say??? There is??? eh? But....

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ATHAR Project and the Artifact War’

Readers of past posts on ths blog may know that as a result of my own research and thoughts, I have a moderately sceptical approach to some of the elements of this story, but this is certainly worth getting to know:

ATHAR Project @ATHARProject Oct 24, 2024

SOON: ‘Artifact War’ world premiere and best feature doc nominee at the @austinfilmfest. The film follows the work of Amr Al-Azm, Adnan Almohamad, and Katie A. Paul as they track trafficked Syrian antiquities from war zone looting sites to social media sites.

"An archaeology professor and his students go undercover to stop ISIS from trafficking Syrian antiquities, only to uncover a web of terror, corporate corruption, and the sale of illegal artifacts in the most shocking places".

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Posted on You Tube by Mystery Box Films 24.10.2024.

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Detectorist Hails ‘Lottery’ Payout Five Years After Finding The Chew Valley Hoard

Detectorist hails ‘lottery’ payout five years after finding ancient coins

A metal detectorist who found £4.3 million worth of ancient coins has spoken of his frustration that it took five years to receive a penny. Adam Staples, 48, discovered 2,584 coins depicting William the Conqueror and Harold II in Somerset in 2019 with his girlfriend at the time, Lisa Grace, and five friends. [...] Mr Staples, an auctioneer from Derby, said: “It’s like winning the lottery but then you can’t cash the ticket for five years.[...] Half of the money will go to the landowner, and the rest has been split between Mr Stables, Ms Grace and the friends they were training to use their metal detectors on the weekend trip, meaning they got around £300,000 each.

I can just imagine all those people wishing to get involved with historical/archaeological research to have a tax free lump sum in order to live mortgage free, after reading this . In fact, if you think about it, there is a higher chance of getting rich in the UK by buying a metal detector and going out into a field than by taking part in the National Lottery. But they are "not in it fer th' munny, jus' th' 'istry, M8".

Series 2 of Hancock’s Ancient Apocalypse.

Catherine Bennett, 'Any ice-age telepaths out there? Please explain why Netflix is revisiting Ancient Apocalypse', Guardian Sun 29 Sep 2024

Admittedly the rise of anti-science discourse has helped normalise, if not his theories, Hancock’s bizarre claims to special – even suppressed? – insights. Contributing to this trend, the programme makers show him as a quest-driven, misunderstood seer; the rejection of his speculation, once thought fairly appropriate, is presented as an attraction. No opportunity was lost in the first series of Ancient Apocalypse to denigrate dissenting archaeologists for disputing the existence of ancient Hancockia. “Perhaps,” he said in programme one, “there’s been a forgotten episode in human history, but perhaps the extremely arrogant and patronising attitude of mainstream academia is stopping us from considering that possibility.”