What the Heritage Schemers Will Not Tell You

FLO gives Collection Driven Exploitation of the Archaeological Record the thumbs up   (original drawing after CIMuseums material)

FLO gives Collection Driven Exploitation

of the Archaeological Record the thumbs up

  (original drawing after CIMuseums material)

Heritage Action have another go at explaining what the PAS (you know, the public-funded 'scheme' to inform the stakeholder public of England and Wales about portable antiquities matters) would never so much as whisper. The Schemers are a quiet lot (Portable Antiquities Scheme Staff Manual – smile, whatever you think! 04/03/2018). Personally, I cannot see anything to smile about in the current situation:

Some British detectorist super brains have been debating how many rallies or club digs you can have on a field before it becomes not worth detecting. What they mean is how long before the archaeological record has been destroyed. The answer seems to vary between a few times and many but they all understand it will happen sooner or later and not one of them ever, ever expresses remorse. That’s why we think they and their hobby are a disgrace.

I call it Collection-Driven Exploitation of the archaeological record, the PAS might one day start using the  term, it might help clarify matters more than merely using the vague pc euphemism 'metal detecting'. It's not the detecting that is the issue, its the taking of what is detected and pocketing it that is the issue.