Focus on Irresponsible UK Metal Detecting: "Refreshing the Field"

Deep ploughing

Readers may recall that one of the arguments used by their supporters for partnering' artefact hunters with metal detectorists is that they are concerned about "rescuing" archaeological evidence from the plough. That's the story they tell everyone anyway. Reality is somewhat different, as will be demonstrated by looking at a metal detecting forum near you. Over there is a different reality from the wishy washy fluffy bunny picture the pro-collecting crowd have been punching out. Member Mega B (who has a broken GPS so cannot plot his or her finds) is in fact rather happy about the erosion of the archaeological record through renewed and deep ploughing of a field that was formerly pasture (Mon Jan 13, 2014 11:33 am). Mega B has been hoiking artefacts from:

a pasture/haymeadow permission that was once a very big animal enclosure and going by the coins that i have found so far it goes back about a 1000 years [...] at the end of the month [the farmer] is going to really deep plough this field and also roll it as well, so i will have a narrow window too get on this large field before the crops are sown.

There is not a word of concern by Mega B (or anyone else reading his post) about the damage this might do to any archaeological stratigraphy that might be damaged by this "really deep plough[ing]", or indeed what they are doing detecting pasture anyway. But, gentle reader, it gets worse. Much worse. The thread was actually started by one "Beany Bot" (Mon Jan 13, 2014 10:44 am - thread name "Got a permission thats stopped producing?":

Have you got a permission that's stopped producing? If you get on well with the farmer why not ask them very very nicely if they will drag their deepest plow (sic) over it for you. Might take a bit of cash incentive but will completely refresh the field. If they really like you they might even roll it afterwards too!

Of course what a field that "has stopped producing" has experienced is the depletion of all the metal small finds from the zone that is accessible to even the new deep-seeker metal detectors. Ploughing with the farmer's deepest plough will cut into the subsoil, and bring up artefacts that were safe in some sort of context and assemblages below the ploughsoil, and not accessible to the majority of artefact hunting machines. What basically Beany Bot is suggesting ("completely refresh the fields") is trashing more of the archaeology of the site (aka "productive field") in order that they, Beany Bot (and anyone who irresponsibly follows their 'advice'), can grab more of the loot. This is not responsible detecting. Not by a long chalk. It is totally irresponsible artefact-hunter prompted destruction of the surviving archaeological record. This is basically strip-mining of collectables.

Now what is important about this is one rather interesting fact. The first post was made at 10:44 am Mon Jan 13, 2014, the last comment was made 11:54 am Mon Jan 13, 2014. It is now 10 am on Wednesday 15th January 2014. That thread has been seen by many members of that discussion list and a number of people outside and not a single person has pointed out that what Beany Bot has suggested doing is so downright unethical that nobody even thought of putting it in the 'Code of Practice for Responsible Detecting in England and (for the moment) Wales'. So where are these thousands and thousands of "responsible metal detectorists" if a suggestion like that, as bold as brass, right out in the open attracts zero comments from the responsible detectorists. Or is that really a mythical being? What is responsible detecting? What is "best practice"? What we see suggested on a public MD forum sure as hell is not in the slightest either. Where is the sixteen million pound Portable Antiquities Scheme which used to be charged with instilling best practice but seem to have given up? Would the PAS record items recovered by the unethical means of getting a farmer to deliberately destroy archaeological evidence to hoik the finds out?

UPDATE 12:00 AM
Though there have been a lot of UK readers of my text the original thread on the forum still has nobody commenting, not even "pretend responsible detectorists". 

UPDATE UPDATE

Twenty six minutes later, instead of adding a substantive comment to the thread advocating irresponsible metal detecting on the forum, "geoman" suggests ( Wed Jan 15, 2014 12:26 pm): 

Admin - Time to close this down as the usual pretend archaeologist nutters are blogging away.

Beany Bot (Wed Jan 15, 2014 12:53 pm) has no idea what he's talking about, replies: 

Eh?

So, what will they do? Delete the thread and pretend there was nothing said by a member, or put a brave face on it and give him a talking to?

UPDATE TO UPDATES g. 20:56
Following the link brings you to:

"The requested topic does not exist".

So there is not going to be a discussion of it by "responsible" artefact hunters then? Well, "there's a surprise"! It's a pretty pathetic discussion list which, the moment there is a weighty and meaty topic to discuss, closes down the thread, and before the PAS could have their say, too. 

FURTHER UPDATE:
No, the tekkies have not deleted the thread, but moved it. The suggestion still stands, "ask them very very nicely if they will drag their deepest plow over it for you"... The PAS still have their chance.