British Archaeology, Outreach and "Little Green PAS-Men"

Volunteers arrive in mismatched camoflage

The secrecy surrounding the Heritage Lottery-funded PAStExplorers recording scheme to be manned by mysterious 'volunteers' has aroused much speculation in recent months. The PAS is refusing to say where these volunteers will be recruited, who they will be, what milieus they will be they are coming from and what interests they have in strengthening the PAS hold on archaeological outreach. In particular, there has been total silence on the all-important question of the security of findspot data in the hands of these 500 unknown individuals scattered in ten regional centres, or indeed to what data and resources these people will have access. A PACHI reporter was in Bloomsbury Square this morning as the first volunteers arrived for briefing at 41 Russell Square, Camden Town:

As a column of muddy cars arrived outside number 41 on Monday morning, a pirate flag fluttered from one of its windows. As the volunteers clambered out, locals crowded around them in the square. There was rampant speculation about who these men in mismatched camouflage were. The men themselves were reluctant to talk to journalists about their identity or intentions, though it was clear that there were definitely green men among them. From their demeanour it appeared that the bulk of them were not  professional finds specialists. Several people peered nervously into the back of one of the cars, there were long packages there, which could have contained metal detectors or weapons, but onlookers were quickly ushered away and the men filed silently into the building.

The whole idea of the PAS was so that members of the public who'd found archaeological artefacts would be able to take them directly to an archaeologist who would then 'liaise' with them and thus provide public outreach and where necessary guidance and encouragement on 'best practice'. That concept quickly became bowdlerised to 'best practice=going to the PAS'.

Now it seems the core element of the Scheme is being scrapped, members of the public apparently will not be coming into direct contact with real archaeologists, but volunteers 'trained' to fulfil the role of pretend archaeologists (who very well may then 'liaise' with the archaeologists they are working under). The whole concept of liaison has all-too-clearly been subsumed under the overall aim of "getting as much stuff in the database, no matter what" which is simply a perversion of the reasons why the Portable Antiquities Scheme was set up. The database was a tool and not the aim in its own right it has now become.

Meanwhile there are justified grounds to believe that many of these 'volunteer ersatz-liaison officers' will in fact be coming from artefact hunting and collecting circles, and not in any way representing to the public the aims and concepts of archaeology, but an object-centred approach to the past (PASt). This is exactly the equivalent of the un-unifoirmed and unacknowledged "little Green men" who are presently an instrument in the attempt to wrest Crimea and the Donbas from the Ukrainians through clandestine infiltration through poorly-defended borders.

PAS, when will you inform us, who - specifically - ARE your little Green Men going to be? 

Grebkesh and Tompa, the Campaign Against the Cleanup Measures

What hope of a Future is there for those
prevented from trading the paperless
past by the US 'clean-up laws'?

No ancient or antique artefacts from a whole range of countries can be imported into the United States of America, according to the campaign run by the coin dealers' paid mouthpiece Peter Tompa. The USA currently has allegedly "trade-stopping" bilateral and other cultural property agreements with the following countries  Belize, Bolivia, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Canada, China, Colombia, Cyprus, El Salvador, Greece,  Guatemala, Honduras, Iraq, Italy, Mali, Nicaragua and  Peru - See  here for details.

As a result of the draconian cleanup measures adopted by the Obama Regime, five hundred and forty three families of former US 'Mom-and-pop' antiquity and tribal art dealers are now on the bread line, living from charity handouts.

Halton Grebkesh, President of the US Philistines and Smugglers' Relief Club says "my members are desperate, we petition government day after day about this, but nobody listens. It is digusting how easily people believe the lies that to comply with these MOUs is no big deal, I bet these people have never  tried to import cultural goods into the United States, nor have they any contact with anyone who has actually imported artifacts themselves or represented those who do".

Meanwhile, US ports are jammed with antiques and antiquities seized at point of entry by US Customs from hapless people who simply do not realise that the US is now totally boycotting the import of cultural property from a large part of the world. The six giant warehouses that house Italian cultural property seized at the port of entry are like an Aladdin's cave of sculptures, armour, pottery vases and mosaics, all items now (according to Mr Grebkesh and Mr Tompa) forbidden on the US market. The Italian antiques and collectables trade used to be worth USD 4,189,800 (2012 figures), today, as a result of the MOU, it has dwindled to 19 dollars and forty-five cents.

Antiquities dealers are fed up with being silenced by the US Government and have decided to make the world aware of their plight, now totally unable to import a single old artefact into the United States.  They have started up dozens of  blogs, websites and action groups intended to inform the world about the great injustice that has been done to their industry, totally blocking access to antiquities from these source countries. The groundswell of loud protest from all these suffering dealers is threatening to jam the Internet.

Why, Mr Tompa has even dragged out and dusted off some hearsay anecdotal evidence about a few isolated cases which are supposed to bolster his case. Obviously the supporting evidence is in all those other websites saying the same thing and showing that more than 99% of cases of attempted licit import, there have been similar obstacles from persistent Customs officers unrestrained by any existing US law.

Deep Digger Dan has been Invited to the PAS?

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Bloomsbury Pete, the national representative of Avian Concern for Cultural Heritage, the most vocal portable antiquities issues advocate in Bloomsbury has informed PACHI that Deep Digger Dan, the popular evangelist of a certain brand of metal detecting has been invited by Roger Bland and his Merry Men in Bloomsbury to pay them a visit and discuss "matters of common interest" while the whole debate is filmed. I do not know how reliable this information is, it certainly would be a smart move on the part of the PAS since Mr Dan has far more followers of his videos than the PAS has for its own "Metal Detecting Best Practice" series of You Tube videos (currently 47,941 more to be exact, because the PAS currently has just six subscribers).

Smuggled Cultural Property Returned to Bulgaria from Italy

Daniel Nikolova, 'Stolen cultural artifacts returned to Bulgaria', Standart 6th Feb 2014:

A large collection of illegally trafficked historical artifacts has been seized by the Italian police while in the process of being sold, bTV reports. The collection, consisting mostly of coins and statuettes, will be returned to Bulgaria [...] The valuables were seized by Italian law enforcement agencies in cooperation with Bulgaria's State Agency for National Security (DANS). Both the Bulgarian and Italian sides underscored their satisfaction at their good joint work in the interception of trafficked culture and historical artifacts, said Dimitrov. The returned valuables will be presented at a press conference at the National Museum of History in Sofia in the coming days, he added.

Internationally famous cultural property legal specialist Peter Tompa is believed to be on a plane to Sophia at this moment. "There has been a terrible mistake", he told reporters on the tarmac before he boarded the IAPN-chartered private jet, "the Bulgarians have got the law totally wrong. These coins were not "illicit" but are openly sold in Bulgaria, I'm going to sort them out". A welcoming committee of the Bulgarian Brotherhood of Totally Legal Artefact Procurers is believed to be waiting to greet him.

 

Treasure losses at all-time high

News story

Treasure losses at all-time high 

New headline figures, published today, show that last year (2012) a shocking 998 cases of legally protected Treasure had been hoiked out of their archaeological context in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, the highest level of such erosion of the archaeological heritage since statistics were first published 5 years ago.

A detailed break-down of the equivalent figures for 2011, also published today, reveals that in that year a massive 92 per cent of all these losses of such archaeological material was caused by unrestricted artefact huntingwith metal detectors, currently unregulated by any law.

Commenting on these figures, Heritage Minister Ted Fluffy said:

There’s something essentially disturbing about this trend, and my Department is worried  that each year reveals still more cases of this nature. The archaeological record of our country is a precious, but also finite and fragile resource faced with threats from all sides. Deliberately removing these items from their burial context by artefact hunters and collectors on such a massive scale prevents us from using them as archaeological evidence to help us get a fuller picture of how life was lived centuries ago. Also dealing with such finds when reported adds enormously to the financial burden on our already under-resourced heritage sector. There is simply no possibility to raise the resources to professionally investigate each findspot from which such material has been removed to the degree required, still less organize proper analysis and publication. I salute all the responsible members of society that do not yield to the temptation to exploit our nation's precious archaeological heritage in the selfish pursuit of personal entertainment and profit – they are the true heritage heroes - whose patience and unceasing support for real archaeological research do so much to help protect our nation's buried heritage.

Organisation: Department for Culture, Media & Sport

Page history: Published 31 October 2013

Topic: Arts and culture

Minister: Ted Fluffy MP

Is there anything wrong with this page?

The AGACC "Keeping the Hobby Clean" Award

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The American Guild of Ancient Coin Collectors has instituted an annual award for the US collector of ancient coins who has done the most to help responsible dealers keep the hobby clean in the preceding calendar year. It is primarily intended as a recognition of the responsible behaviour and high moral character of collectors who report to the relevant trade and law enforcement authorities the surfacing on the US market of looted, smuggled or stolen items in such a way that it leads to charges being brought against those involved in dodgy dealings. The winner will receive a sizeable cash award (from funds donated by the US Responsible Antiquities Dealers' Association) and a wall-plaque which he is encouraged to display alongside any elements of his collection that he will be exhibiting at coin clubs and shows. The award also entitles the collector to wear the AGACC lapel badge with a red background (instead of the normal blue), so dealers can see immediately they walk into the shop who they are dealing with. Only collectors are eligible for the Award; the Guild already has a comparable recognition of 'Due Dilligence Excellence' awarded by the Guild's collector members to dealers excelling in supplying coins with properly documented collecting histories (this year the plaque was not awarded).

Guild spokesperson Jayne Moralsales stressed that this "Keeping the Hobby Clean" Award was a logical extension of the Guild's policies on legal and responsible collecting: "we encourage our members to exercise appropriate caution when buying ancient coins from any source", she said, "and to report any suspicious-looking activity so that it can be fully investigated". She stressed that the function of the Guild was to foster an environment in which the general public can acquire and hold any numismatic item of historical interest regardless of date or place of origin in confidence that the material can be shown to have arrived on the market in compliance with all applicable laws (domestic and at the point of origin) and standards of ethics and morals. 

Nominations for the 2013 "Keeping the Hobby Clean" award should be sent to Jayne Moralsales here. 

History Buffs Applaud Raid

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On a metal detecting forum near you, the "responsible" tekkies ("passionately intersted in history") have reacted to yesterday's news of the seizure of 900 looted artefacts from a Norfolk home with joy. Bazza Thugwit, of Billericay for example writes (21 may 2013):

Well caught! People who handle dodgy artefacts should get what they deserve. Pity these guys got away with it for so long. 

Sam Scabmitts (21 may 2013) agrees:

Lock 'em up, that's what I say! 

The forum's moderator Ivor Eraysor adds:

the British Museum was right to shop these guys the moment they spotted them, apparently this was through one of the 'other' metal detecting forums, if these guys had been writing about what they were doing over here, they'd have been banned immediately and the police informed. We refuse to allow our forum to be used for discussions of anything of that nature. Be warned. 

 The reader need not try following the links, they do not work because there never were any such posts. The whole matter of one of their number in Northern Ireland going out there without a permit and thus metal detecting illegally has been skipped over on most detecting forums this morning. The whole issue of a metal detectorists's family home in Norfolk being raided and an entire collection of items seized is not mentioned. There has been no discussion of the fact that the Northern Irish guy ("only interested in the history?") was reportedly passing on masses of objects to the Norfolk guy. Why would he do that?  Why would the latter accumulate a whole load of stuff which he'd not found himself while "researching local history"? There are no anecdotes about how Thugwit "always suspected that **** was up to summat" and was a strange guy, and that he'd "never give his hand to him at a club dig". There are in fact a number of elements to this story which to my mind any normal group of enthusiasts (and especially self-proclaimed "responsible ones") would be interest themselves in and be discussing with alacrity. So why is there instead a conspiracy of silence about this notable and interesting case?

“We know for a fact that metal detectors were used,” said Dr Ned Kelly, keeper of antiquities with the National Museum of Ireland, where the items will be displayed to the media tomorrow.

The Source of a Controversial Text Revealed

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Warrington Tree-fellas Back Home

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Ninety members of the Warrington and District Amateur Tree-Sawyers Historical Felling club have just returned home from a trip to Poland. The men from Warrington spent a long weekend in Białowieża Forest on the Polish - Belarus border camping, cutting down trees and making use of the duty-free benefits being next to a green border offers. The group claims to have felled over two hundred trees in three days. "It has been a great success", says Baz Thugwit, honorary president of the club, "we've never cut down so many healthy four hundred year old trees in a single weekend". The group specialises in finding and felling historic trees for fun. "Just think", member Igor Palin reflects "some of those trees were saplings when their King John the Unharmonious was on the throne and beginning his campaign to reform the music of the liturgy, and I cut it down, wow. it really gives you a sense of history".

The tree-sawers club was set up in Warrington when the town council passed a bylaw forbidding trees in the city due to hygiene concerns. They have club meetings at irregular intervals and have a forum (closed access, registered users only) and hold tree-felling meetings whenever they can get access to historical trees. Soon after the group was formed, they very quickly ran out of trees to destroy in their own region and for the past four years have been forced to go to other countries to cut, slash and burn trees there. This is their first time in Białowieża and Mr Thugwit says he'd like to go back again. The only problem is most of the area - one of the last genuine pieces of ancient wildwood in Europe - is protected by law as a national park. The area which they felled however, despite having a unique ecosystem and a sizeable stand of historic trees, was not in the boundaries of the park because it had proven impossible when the part was formed to sort out an ownership dispute of this four hectare parcel created by the nationalisation of land in the 1940s. The historic trees in this parcel were all destroyed this weekend and the wildlife driven out, but if the group manages to find another area which also has not yet been protected, they will be back, Mr Thugwit says, whether or not the forest authorities and local inhabitants approve or not. "What's wrong with us having a bit of fun at the expense of the Polish forests?" he asks, "it's legal innit? It's not as if there are no trees in Poland".

2012 Olympics Opening Ceremony

The 2012 Olympics have gobbled up so many funds that would otherwise have gone elsewhere, including culture. Anyhow after seven years of planning, the Games have finally got underway and even the die-hard sceptics like myself were probably agreeably impressed by the workmanlike job and finish of the opening ceremony celebrating these "Isles of Wonder" with some jaw-droppingly how-did-they-do-that amazing moments. The first part was a dramatisation of the industrialisation of Britain ("the Workshop of the World") following a rather romanticised depiction of British country life with a nod to the older traditions (Glastonbury Tor).

 But what are the two guys in the left middle foreground doing? On permanent pasture?

"Britain's Secret Treasures" Drinking Game

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In order to make the parade of the remains of archaeological contexts dismembered by metal detector wielding treasure hunters and artefact collectors on ITV1 next week more palatable, Portable Antiquities and Heritage Issues has devised a drinking game to accompany the programme.

THE “BRITAIN’S SECRET TREASURES” DRINKING GAME*

A game that gives you a good reason to get drunk and argue about archaeology!

Preparation:

Assemble a group of friends in front of the TV just before “Britain’s Secret Treasures” begins.  Before they arrive, make sure that all the necessary equipment is present. You will require:

• alcohol -- strong spirits have the best results, but beer or cider are more authentic (note to continentals: the beer in Britain is the warm-fermented type, and is served at room temperature…);  
• assorted mixers, ice cubes and snacks (for sustenance and variety);
• glasses; 

Ensure that everyone is seated comfortably at a safe distance from the television. Ascertain before the game starts that nobody came by car (those that did they are automatically disqualified from participation, but can act as impartial adjudicators).

The Game:

Everyone must have a drink to hand.  The general rules of this game are no different from any other drinking game. A drink is either a shot or a good gulp from a beer (or cider). Different events call for different numbers of drinks and all you do is watch the programme and play along.

 

Take 1 drink if:

• You hear the phrase "only in it for the history",
• Someone says "the money is not important, and I never sell my finds",
  
• sweeping generalisations are made,
  
• Nylon trousers, strap-on kneelers, baseball caps or camo gear are seen.   
• A metal detecting club's own "code of conduct" is referred to by a metal detectorist (two more if it is mentioned by an archaeologist).
• Someone says "we hate nighthawk[er]s/ nighthawk[er]s are not real metal detectorists" (it does not matter whether said by a detectorist, archaeologist or presenter).
• David Lammy or "unsung heroes of the heritage" are mentioned,
• There is a comment about the Treasure Valuation Committee or the speed and/or fairness of the 'Treasure Process'. 
• Hughes does her 'google-eyed' look.

Take 2 drinks if:

• You hear the phrase “revolutionizes our understanding of history”,
• you hear the word “context” (four if it is a metal detectorist that says it),
• The find being discussed is not of metal,
• resistivity meters or magnetometers are shown,
• people solemnly waving metal detectors over an excavation to no obvious end are shown,
• an historical re-enactment group are shown,
• Computer generated graphics and 'bright historic haze effects' are shown,
• The display of an object on the screen is accompanied by a 'leap of imagination' story, trite, dumbed-down and baseless narrativisation,
• The name of a member of the British royal family (dead or alive) is dropped into the conversation (those based on Geoffrey of Monmouth etc do not count). One drink if the ruler is foreign. 
• "Roman soldiers" are invoked (two more if there is a re-enacter in full armour shown on the screen at the time)

Take 3 drinks if:

• Mention is made of “agrichemical and plough damage”, 
• Preservation in situ is referred to as “left rotting in the ground”,
• A metal detectorist (or archaeologist) does silly stunts on camera like licking jellyfish or cross-dressing, 
• Interpretations involve human sacrifice, strange 'ritual' acts or gory deaths,  
• there is product placement (a metal detector brand is identifiable, or a metal detector producer’s logo is visible in the shot) - look at the clothing as well as equipment, 
• The object discussed is of iron.  
• The NCMD Code of Conduct is referred to by a metal detectorist (two more if it is mentioned by an archaeologist),
• Cotton gloves are not used while handling artefacts,

Take 5 drinks if:

•  A landowner has waived his "reward money".
•  eBay is mentioned by a detectorist,
• The Code of Practice for Responsible Metal Detecting in England and Wales is referred to by a metal detectorist (none if it is mentioned by an archaeologist, three more drinks however if is shown being presented to a landowner),
• Any mention is made of a metal detectorist's personal artefact collection,

Take 7 drinks if:

•  A metal detectorist has waived his "reward money".
• The completion of a full publication of one of the discussed finds is mentioned (two more if it actually shown on screen),
• Any health risks from metal detector use (electromagnetic radiation, harmful nanovibrations etc.) are referred to,
• There is any mention of international conventions,
• There is any mention of any of the theoretical literature on heritage issues, from either side (White Hat Guys, Gill, Renfrew, Elia, SAFE etc. or the Dark Side - finds identification manuals, coin catalogues and price guides do not count).

If all goes well, you should all be so drunk by the end of the programme that you will not be able to fire off a strongly-worded letter of complaint to ITV about the misrepresentation of the nature of archaeology. Hopefully the next morning you will have forgotten what you saw.

Happy Drinking!

* Inspired (obviously) by ‘The Time team Drinking Game’ http://www.assemblage.group.shef.ac.uk/4/4drink.html (see also http://www.ringthis.com/tvdrink/tv.php)
Vignette: : Keith Morris/Alamy

Britain's Secret treasures, ITV 1 16th-22nd July 2012

Research Grant Doubts in Ludistan

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It has been announced this week in the Official Gazette that the  Lugabe Trust has awarded a research team a grant of LP 150000 to conduct a study of the functioning and achievements of the Ludistanian Supreme Council of Antiquities in response to growing controversy evoked by media reports over the past few years. There is however general indignation that the Principal Investigator who will be receiving this money is none other than Zanny Hazzaz, the controversial head of the Ludistanian Supreme Council of Antiquities itself. Comment was also aroused by Hazzaz's first step on learning the money for the grant had been paid into his account, which was to appoint a long-legged 23 year old former employee as his personal "Research Assistant".

Hazzaz has frequently attracted criticism for his flamboyant lifestyle in the country's capital Lonbassa, while many of his employees in the provinces find it hard to make ends meet on their low-paid temporary contracts. "This has got to change"  said Mustafa Kon Olye, representing the Ludistan Professional Archaeologists' Federation (the LAJR). "The LSCA is a corrupt organization, Hazzaz does nothing to stop the theft of antiquities from archaeological sites all over Ludistan, our heritage. For the fifth year running he has been paid thousands of dollars by the Judeo-American  National Explorers' magazine as their "Resident Geographer", but has done nothing to improve the position of archaeology in Ludistan. He simply swans around making television appearances with shiny golden artefacts and writing coffee table books". Kon Olye announced he was pressing for a government investigation into the activities of  Dr Hazzaz and demanded the setting up of an independent commission to study the functioning and results of the operations of the LSCA.

If this sort of thing was happening in Zimbabwe, or Egypt, there would be immediate calls for Hazzaz to step down, but it seems that such principles do not apply to Lonbassa, where apparently 'anything goes'. 

SLAM Bumper Sticker

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The  Malibu office of the Association for Museum Professional Excellence  (AMPE) has brought out a bumper sticker to publicise the damaging effects of museums retaining artefacts which they know are of dodgy provenance.

The St Louis city fathers evidently see it as a source of pride to exhibit stolen objects in their art museum. This ignores the feelings of good decent folk having the stigma attached to admitting that they are a citizen of such a place. This campaign will hopefully lead to the Museum Trustees becoming more aware of the damage they are doing to the image of their city by refusing for so long to do the right thing. In the coming weeks, these bumper stickers will be available from a AMPE office near you, except in St Louis of course (SLAM does not belong to the AMPE).

Historic Discovery by the PAS, An Unknown Pope

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In their search for objects made of more precious metal, most treasure hunters tend to ignore archaeological artefacts made of lead discovered. Metal detectorist Alun Tussle from Gaer Diffymawr, Gwent was only prevented from putting a small disc of lead in his scrap pouch when he saw two faces peering out of the mud while metal detecting a Roman site in Caerleon near his home. When he got it home and washed it, he realised that it had writing on it and to find out whether he had found something valuable, he took it to his good friends, amateur historians Baran Blackheart and Callan Titwit (world-famous authors of "Britain's True History from Authentic Documents" and discoverers of the Holy Grail, grave of King Arthur and the Ark of the Covenant all within walking distance of their little town in South Wales). Realising at once the true significance of the object and where it was found, the two instructed him to take it to the Potable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) to claim his reward.

 The region's Finds Liaison Officer Fionella Sloan-Squarre says "when Mr Tussle showed me what he'd got in his trouser pocket, I was flabbergasted. It is not every day that you see such a valuable item - historically, that is. I immediately phoned my bosses in London to inform them". Mr Tussle was disappointed to learn that despite the value of the find, which is purely historical, because the find is not gold or silver nor a hoard, he is not entitled to a reward. "It's not a about the money", he smiled wryly.

What Mr Tussle had found metal detecting in the southwest corner of the walled Roman town at Caerleon is what is known as a "papal bull". It is a lead seal that was placed on documents issued by the Papal Chancellery in and sent to dignitaries of the early Church. The representations on one side of two saints show St Paul and St Peter with the inscription SPA[ul] SPE[eter]. The reverse bearing the name of the issuer is what excited Blackheart and Titwit . It bears the name of ELEVTHERIVS, followed by the numeral "I" and the title PP [pontifex].

 As Ms Sloan-Squarre explained, reliable historians such as Geoffrey of Monmouth make reference to an early mission to England sent by a Pope Eleutherus to King Lucius of Britain. William of Malmesbury records that he sent SS. Fugatius and Damianus (rather Dumianus or Duvianus) over to Britain. These missionaries baptized King Lucius and many others, and "the Britons enjoyed the light of faith in peace till the reign of Diocletian". Lucius therefore was the first Christian king in Europe.

 The problem is Bede (Hist. l. 1. c. 4) dates the mission to 167 when there was no Pope Eleutherus in Rome. The pontif in that year was Anicetus (150-167) and foreign historians say he was followed by Soter whose short pontificate was followed by that of Saint Eleuterus (Greek: Ελευθέριος), much later than the historical date of the conversion of Lucius. On these grounds, professional historians have attacked the validity of these earliest records of The True British History. Now, this new discovery rewrites history. It seems there were in fact two Popes called Eleutherius, the first of which was the one to whom Lucius had sent his embassy in 167, but he had later been written out of history in an effort to hide The True British History which made Britain the earliest Christian nation in Europe.

What is more, Blackheart and Titwit explain, the findspot shows that the Pope was sending letters to the bishops of Lucius in Caerleon, not London - so probably during the Roman occupation of the eastern parts of the Island, this small town now in Wales was the capital of all of Britain at the time.

Ms Sloan Squarre stresses that it seems once again, in partnership with the PAS, the discovery of an amateur proves the so-called "experts" totally wrong. "In a year when we’re all celebrating what it means to be British, finds like this made by amateur searchers show how they can reveal the hidden events that have shaped our past and made our great nation what we are today".

It is interesting to note that coins or medals of King Lucius were recorded by early collectors, such as one mentioned by Archbishop Usher (Antiq. Britain, c. 3, p. 22. Guthrie, Hist. of England, b. 1. ), and one by the French connoisseur Bouterue. They had been disregarded as fakes by professional historians but the discovery of the Caerleon Eletherius I bull suggests we should look at the issue of their authenticity again. The problem is nobody knows what has happened to these privately-owned items, they never made it down the ages to a public collection. No bulls of (Saint) Eleutherius II have so far been discovered, Mr Tussle is out in the fields of South Wales looking for them now.

UPDATE:
to better understand the context of this text, note that it was posted on April 1st (April Fool's Day). OK, too long and involved to be funny - better luck next year.

Photo: Potable Antiquities Scheme

Thomas Albert for ACCG Director General

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Tom Albert certainly gets my vote as the new executive director of the ACCG, he has this conspiracy theory stuff sussed. Go, boy, go!

I have a different gubn'mint conspiracy theory, if coin collectors with their "free thought" pose such a threat to the New World Order and its plans to dominate the world through manipulation of History as Albert claims, we might ask what fresh dugup coins are soaked in before they come on the market? It's obviously a pretty potent mind-rot agent. By pretending to "restrict access" to fresh dugups (through import controls) the Illuminati are obviously fostering demand precisely in the dangerous non-conformist groups like coineys which they wish to target. Ancient coins impregnated with mind-control drugs that work through skin contact. Don't fondle the coins !

Vignette: Money never lies: the Illuminati dollar.

Valuable Old Gold Cross Found in Hole (Archaeological Parable)

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From the Gravelston Times:

Amateur archaeologist Trevor Thugwit was headed back to his car idly swinging his metal detector as he went. He had been searching for parts of a crashed World War Two aeroplane that was in this Cambridgeshire field and he was eager to add to his artefact collection. He'd had a hard day, the ground was as dry as a bone and hard, and he has a Minelab GPX 4500 'Site Wrecker' metal detector, "You can find plenty of deep targets'" he said, "but yer don't 'arf 'av t' do a lotta digging!" But he was happy because he had plenty of bits of the plane in his pocket. Just as he was half way to where he'd parked the car, he got a signal, then another a little distance away, but they were just iron signals. Nothing worth digging. He sighed and was just about to pack it in for the day when he got another signal. Faint at first, but as he swung to coil back and forth, 'low and slow', it got clearer. "That's odd", he thought, "sounds like gold, cant be, perhaps its just a bit of the aeroplane's electronics?" He says he hesitated whether to dig or not, he was dying to get home as the match would be beginning soon. Nevertheless he got out his digging tool. Trevor prides himself on digging neat round holes and putting the sod back neatly so he dug a narrow hole. He got out his pinpoint probe. Deeper. He had to widen and deepen the hole three times before he found the source of the signal. By this time it was beginning to get dark, but as his digging tool scraped over it, some 60 cm down, Trevor saw the unmistakeable glint of gold. He pulled it out of the hole. "[I] Couldn't believe it", he said, "blinking big piece of gold wannit?" After rubbing the dirt off with his sleeve, Trevor saw it was a fairly well preserved Anglo-Saxon garnet and gold cross with a loop. He swept the area around the hole again, but nothing, apart from the many iron signals, which of course he ignored.

Last week, the cross, which - in the view of experts - could be worth a staggering 600 000 pounds was declared Treasure at a coroner's inquest, the reward money will be shared with the landowner. Although Mr Thugwit paced the distance of the findspot to the place he parked the car, when the local archaeological unit did a one-metre by one meter excavation at the spot he indicated, they did not find Mr Thugwit's hole. Nevertheless, the Portable Antiquities Scheme Finds Liason officer Fionella Sloane-Squarr says that the fact that the excavation produced only prehistoric pottery and the object "came from the ploughsoil", suggesting this was a chance loss. Ms Sloane-Squarr says this find is important new evidence of the Dark Ages, "it shows not only that the Dark Ages happened here in Cambridgeshire, but also that by this time the British were Christians, or at least knew what a cross looked like". She said only five other crosses like this were known, and said this was yet another vindication of the value of the Portable Antiquities Scheme.

The Staffordshire Hoard, a glittering treasure from the world of Beowulf – more than 1,600 pieces – was found by amateur metal detectorist Terry Herbert in Staffordshire farmer Fred Johnston's field in early July 2010, changing both men's lives forever. The hoard has been valued at £3.3m by the independent experts of the Treasure Valuation Committee. It seems the key to helping the experts throw new light on the now-less-Dark Ages and getting rich quick is to go out and buy a metal detector.

Maeve Kennedy, 'Cross and bed found in Anglo-Saxon grave shed new light on 'dark ages'...', Guardian Friday 16 March 2012 (source of photo and link to video)

[PS... For those who do not "get it", the shiny ooo-ahhh gold thingy is in the parable hoiked out by "metal detecting" from its context in undisturbed archaeological layers but in a way which makes retrieval of the context (a grave with a bed) impossible to determine. The fictional detectorist - like many of his real-life fellows - does not dig the 'iron' signals, thus missing the bed. This sort of thing is happening ALL THE TIME when detectorists are highly rewarded and praised for pulling such "Treasures" out of their findspot. There is no archaeological logic in that. What a mess the Brits are in. Still at least the journalist did not this time discuss the reward the finders would get - because they do not, these people ARE indeed the ones "doing it for the history", to get the history that artefact hunters too frequently destroy and discard]

Detectorist Stunt 'A Desecration' Say Residents

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"We didn’t ask permission
because we knew
the answer would be no".

Inhabitants of the sleepy town of Ambridge in Borsetshire awoke yesterday morning to find that a huge hill figure of a metal detectorist had been created on the hill overlooking the towns's Heritage Institute. Villagers branded the publicity stunt involving the ancient pasturelands (owned by the National Trust) of Ambridge Down as “desecration”. The canvas installation was created by the local "Artefact Recovery Club" (a group of metal detectorists) to protest against restrictions in the UK of "collectors' rights".

The 110ft tall and 200ft wide detectorist was made from more than 200 metres of canvas and put in place using 500 metal tent pegs driven six to eight inches into the pasture, and the detectorists say no harm was done to the site. "I mean its not as if we was taking things away is it?", said one club member, anonymously, adding "it's legal, innit? I mean, no law was actually broken, was it? If th' heritage belongs to us all, then it belongs to our club members too don't it? So why shouldn't we do with it what we want? It's OUR heritage too!"

But site owner the National Trust demanded it be removed after it was discovered yesterday morning.

Sharlene Spiff, curator of the village’s Museum and Parish councillor, said: “The ancient field systems up there are over 3,000-years-old, the landscape features have been preserved throughout the generations and they are not for advertising.”

Chairman of Ambridge Parish Council Hayward Shanks said he was glad to hear the assurances that the site had not been damaged, beyond a few holes. But he said: “It is not the right thing to do with an ancient monument. It has a lot of meaning to the villagers and other people in the Vale. It is a treasured monument.” His wife Eileen Shanks, added: “They shouldn’t be allowed to get away with it.”

The Ambridge Artefact Recovery Club claims to have donated £100 to the National Trust, said it had spent a month preparing the stunt to ensure no harm was done to the ancient pastureland. Spokesman Paddy Thugwit said a team of 20 club members used their nightvision goggles for more than six hours to set it up. He said: “We didn’t ask permission because we knew the answer would be no. But no harm has been done, it is down now. If anything we have actually highlighted the value of the region's hidden history". His offer to send members onto the site with their metal detectors to see if all the pegs had been removed was turned down by the National Trust which has a no metal detecting policy.

The chalk downland is a special type of grassland habitat which is an extremely fragile and threatened habitat and is now very rare in the UK. Ambridge Down is the only habitat in Borsetshire for Salvia pratensis (Meadow Clary or Meadow Sage) a delicate species. The site also supports small communities of Bee Orchid (Ophrys apifera) and Pyramidal Orchid (Anacamptis pyramidalis). National Trust managers say that the nocturnal trampling and scuffing of the ground cover in this stunt just as the first shoots start appearing in early March could have irreparably damaged this delicate and important community of the plant. The activities of the metal detectorists on Ambridge Down were described by an English Nature official yesterday as "a shocking example of environmental vandalism; this loss reinforces the need to protect Britain's rarest wild plants, which are already under enormous pressure from intensive farming and the fragmentation of our semi-natural landscapes".


Source: Horse stunt is a 'desecration'

Some online Comments:

Trifle_gobbler says... 11:15am Fri 9 Mar 12

Get a grip, no damage has been done, and thousands spent making absolute sure the site wasn't marred by anyway! Killjoys ruining the world yet again.

Beatmyscore says...
11:21am Fri 9 Mar 12

I am sorry, but I think there are plenty more things in the world to get angry about. Move on.

Paddy-two-niner says... 11:38am Fri 9 Mar 12

get a grip, just think of the free publicity thet that site will now get, more harm is done by people walking on it daily.

Boxford says... 12:11pm Fri 9 Mar 12

May be these mourners are also from 3000 years ago How can they not see all the advantages this will bring to the village Free publicity , extra income, some jobs may be Besides the site doesn’t belong to them, its national heritage.

OxfordJohnny says... 12:53pm Fri 9 Mar 12

I agree get a grip. If that is all you got to worry about you are very lucky.

Pinkstone says... 1:37pm Fri 9 Mar 12

I think it is very artistic and well done. No mean feat considering the proportions involved.

Manyfacetted says... 1:46pm Fri 9 Mar 12

Brilliant!!

GoodOld Paddy says... 1:52pm Fri 9 Mar 12

"His wife Eileen Shanks, added: “They shouldn’t be allowed to get away with it.”

Get away with what Elly? Lay a bit of fabric over it? what is wrong with that?. Thank god I don't live with such a bunch of narrow minded people like you. P.S. How about popping up there in the morning and removing all the beer cans, cannabis roaches, and used condoms from the area, surely that is more of a problem.

Ah the British and their heritage... Never mind, throwing another few dozen million into public outreach through schemes like the PAS will soon sort that out.

I am an Archaeoblogger, What do I do?

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Well, everybody else is doing this, and these have been going the rounds, so I thought I'd share them...

or...

Collectors' Solidarity

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Following the theft of ancient dugup silver coins from a British museum, PC Fingle, a coin collecting police officer in charge of the case might have said last night: "All I want is a sensible resolution to the whole situation. Please feel free to contact me. I am your friend not your enemy, I enjoy this hobby and do not want to see it needlessly tarnished!".

Punishing Illegal Artefact Hunting in England and Wales

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This is what happened to the car of a metal detector user caught red-handed illegally looking for artefacts on a site protected by law. A court ruled his motor was to be crushed following his sentencing. A Judge at Cloud Cuckton Crown Court ordered that the Audi A3 belonging to defendant 21-year old Barry Thugwit, of Lower Darkmess, Barsettshire be forfeited when he was sentenced to three years in prison last month. He had previously admitted metal detecting on protected sites using the car on three occasions between June 21 and 24 of this year. The vehicle, which was seized following his arrest, was handed to the police after the order from court and a decision was made to crush it. Detective Inspector Lancelot Goodguy, who ran the operation that led to the arrest of Mr Thugwit, said: “This car was used to facilitate the metal detecting and was forfeited to the police by the judge. By crushing it we are sending out a very clear message to others that we will not tolerate culture crime Barsettshire".

Source: Bedfordshire on Sunday, 'Ever wondered what happens to a drug dealer's car? Judge sends out a clear message that this is a crime that will not be tolerated',20/11/2011 (slightly amended).

Meanwhile in wilder Wales, metal detector users seem more prone to use other methods to deal with the 'black sheep' in the metal detector-using artefact hunting community. Such is their feeling of a bond with 'their' sites, that they declare publicly that they are willing take the law into their own hands to punish offenders without involving law enforcement. According to one "Detecting Wales" list member, people were suspected to be artefact hunting a hoard findspot by night and without the permission of the (hunting-shooting-and-fishing) landowner:

They were spotted by the game keeper who has night vision glasses. I think I will join him on a night time hunt, see who it is. I should be able to spot them, in the light of their burning car.

The use of violence among metal detector using artefact hunters in competition for access to 'productive sites' is an aspect which I wonder if Felicity Winkley will be covering in her NCMD-backed survey of the attitudes of metal detector using artefact hunters "to landscape and objects' findspots".

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