Saturday 10 July 2021

"Mystery Find" or Unknown Context?


     PAS pleased as Punch about a buckle
BBC Mystery North Norfolk treasure 'could be sword-related' 10th July 2021

A mystery object found by a metal detector in Norfolk could be linked to a sword, an expert has said. The gilded silver early Anglo-Saxon object was found in Field Dalling in Norfolk last September and declared to be treasure this week. [...] A report sent to the Norfolk coroner said it was reminiscent of a buckle from Proosa in Estonia
So why is this not a left-over from the "seeding" of venue of a long-forgotten commercial metal detecting event 3 decades ago with bulk-buy "partifacts"? A mere "X-marks the spot" findspot in a "database" is not data. What counts is the site context of the find - which the PAS "database" simply does not record.

10 comments:

Unknown said...

Where is the proof of seeding the field from a unknown Metal Detecting group. The contex would of been lost if the field was ploughed as there isn't any contex on ploughed land in the plough soil

Paul Barford said...

Where is there proof of it NOT being a seeded find from a bulk buy on eBay scattered three decades ago? It is precisely from Norfolk that I have reports of "fertiliser bags full of broken artefacts" being held in garages about three decades ago.

You are wrong thinking that surface sites do not have context, don't believe what every supporter of metal detecting tells you. It is simply not true. This is why surface survey is used as a technique in a lot of research, in the UK too - surprise surprise. There is a large literature on it, surprised that the "it's-only-topsoil" claqueurs don't seem to know it. Don't parrot mantras, do some reading and thinking for yourself. If there's something you don't understand, ask your FLO, they should be able to explain it to you. THAT IS WHAT THEY ARE THERE FOR.

Paul Barford said...

Would "have".

Unknown said...

Funny how plenty of Archaeologist have came out saying all Archological contex is destroyed when land is ploughed to a depth of 14 inches depending what's being grown in the field. FLOs have also said the same when I question the importance of Archological contex on a yearly ploughed field. Yes anything below the plough line should be reported straight away if you think that the find is significant to the Archological contex.

Paul Barford said...

Well, as I said, those archaeologists and FLOs are not telling you the whole story. They are supposed to be there to tell finders and the public about archaeology, and all the ones you describe are doing is reinforcing your own preconceptions. Or perhaps they don't know? Hard to believe the latter. Ask yourself how much "value for money" that is in the case of the public-funded PAS.

Brian Mattick said...

Metal detectorists know darn well many surface sites have undestroyed horizontal contexts. They call them finds hotspots. At least, the ones that can spell them know. God knows what the others think they are. Magic accumulations maybe.

Paul Barford said...

That's a good point, I'd not thought of that. (It's a good job you "are not real", I can pinch that and nobody would know). :>)

Brian Mattick said...

And of course, the very essence of artefact hunting is to find where they can find the most finds, i.e. hotspots, and harvest them into nothingness.

Paul Barford said...

Harvest them into their pockets.

Paul Barford said...

Piss off Dick Stout. You don't have the foggiest idea what we are talking about here.

 
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