A British metal detectorist takes exception to my comments about the number of finds which are being hoiked out of the British archaeological record without being reported or recorded:
may I suggest you contact a few museums to see how many items I have given or are on long term loan agreements with them. Like everything you print, no research is ever undertaken to show what we contribute, only what we take.First of all museums do not now release information which could be construed as personal data. I suggest if a metal detectorist wants to have that point taken into consideration, they'd do better to put the tally online themselves.
Secondly, and more importantly, by UK law, a museum has no business accepting any finds without the sign-off form from the original owner, that is the landowner. It is not the finder that is granting anything to the museum, but the landowner.
Thirdly, isolated individuals filling museums with loose displayable geegaws is not the same as preserving archaeological context.
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