Focus on UK Metal Detecting: Selfish Artefact Hoiker Gloats

Kevin Anderson has left a new comment on my post "Focus on UK Metal Detecting; On my untouched pasture" said: 

I find loads of beautifull (sic) things on undisturbed pasture, big medieval ridge and furrow. You should see the things I find - oh wait you never will, lol

LOL indeed. I am sure many similarly self-centred artefact hunters are all LOLLing with Mr Anderson.

Mr Anderson is the author of a number of similarly-enlightening comments:

"When museums start paying the real value of finds then every detectorist will report their finds correctly"

and the hackneyed:

Just think, without metal detectorists none of these things would ever [have] be[en] found

Yeah, just "fink", and without rifles there'd be fewer kilogrammes of rhino horn on the market too. Do you reckon this self-gratulatory hoiker has readDavid Gill's 'Does Britain "condone systematic looting"?' and "thinked" about it? 

This would appear to be the mouthy hero, from Clitheroe. Note the number of hammered coins which he seems to be boasting about, and the photos of him detecting on established pasture. His 'friends' list includes a number of tekkies who've also been mouthing off on this blog, plus a tattooed "Nazi Digger". This sort of thing is what the "we is orl responsible" façade is designed to hide, yet a few moments perusal of almost any metal detecting forum near you will indicate this is a significant undercurrent in the UK detecting scene.

It is not nighthawks that "get detecting a bad name", but the repetitive series of unguarded, candid remarks from a large number of people in UK detecting who display exactly the same attitudes as Mr Anderson displays here for all to see.

TAKE A GOOD LOOK at this behaviour, for these are precisely the sort of people the PAS wants to grab more and more millions of public quid to make into the "partners" of the British Museum, archaeological heritage professionals and to whom they want us all to entrust the exploitation of the archaeological record. Take a good look and decide what you think about that as a "policy".  

Vignette: Lolling in the heritage debate, a detectorist's idea of having a good time.