“Metal-detecting can make an immense contribution to archaeological knowledge, if practised responsibly, and the vast majority of people are keen that their hobby has a positive impact.”(Michael Lewis, head of portable antiquities and treasure at the British Museum, following the announcement that a record amount of ‘treasure’ was found in Britain’s fields and ditches by member of the public during the past year). The point about this is that the metal detector as a tool can make a contribution, but collection-driven exploitation of the archaeological record, as its name implies, can only be exploitive and erosive. Which is probably why Mike Lewis does not call a spade a spade.
Friday, 15 December 2017
Terminological Vaseline from the British Museum
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"and the vast majority of people are keen that their hobby has a positive impact.”
That's a classic twisting of words which has been PAS's hallmark for two decades.
"the vast majority of people are keen that their hobby IS SEEN TO HAVE a positive impact.” That would be impossible, given that most of them don't report their finds, but for deliberate efforts such as this to suggest otherwise.
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