Bronze Age Gold

[Kiters 65]

Hi
I found this Gold Torc in 2004 on one of our Bronze Age sites off the coast of Salcombe (England) since then we have found a few more & lots of other peices, see our web site, Home

 

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[vpnavy]

Nice Kiters.

 

[ScubaFinder]

Very nice site, and some great projects you guys are working on. I wish we could get that type of support and cooperation from our government/academic/archaeological community here in the "land of the free".

 

[Kiters 65]

Hi ScubaFinder
It would be good if support was there, we get some but our group (all mates) are mainly self funded we pay into a kitty each month to pay for detector repairs, boat servicing & any research on items found, we have had some return from British Museum for artifacts, but values are based on marine salvage not treasure trove

 

[ScubaFinder]

Interesting, it's good that you guys foot the bill, here most excavations are paid for by the tax-payers. I'd love it if we could have self-funded amateur groups here out exploring but they will arrest you for it here. Also, in the US a museum would never purchase an artifact that wasn't excavated by an academic institution. I consider myself a very well-rounded professional archaeologist, but I don't have the degree. I've read the same books, use the same methods of excavation, conservation, and research I just didn't know this was my passion when I was going through college. I've been working professionally in the marine archaeology field for over 7 years now.

Recently I found a small cluster of paleo-human artifacts while fishing, nothing incredibly special, but an almost complete bone point caught my eye right at my feet. A subsequent search of the area produced 2 pottery sherds, one with markings and what appears to be a very old human skull fragment (haven't had this verified). I went to the small local museum nearby which houses artifacts from the same site and asked what they could tell me about them, and if they would like the pieces for their collection. Seems like a good day so far, but the guy at the museum "went to get his loupe" to inspect the artifacts closer and called the law while he was in the back. They searched me, my car, my tackle boxes and informed me that I had committed a felony in the state of Florida by removing the artifacts from the water. I explained that they came from land and that I had come to the museum to donate them. The museum director was now involved and informed me that he wouldn't have my artifacts in his museum because they were not properly excavated and therefore provenance couldn't be established.

In the end I was allowed to leave and even keep my artifacts (?!) and nothing else happened. I later went to the museum with my fiancé and noted that they only had a sketch of a bone point...I had offered them an almost complete one several months earlier but it was declined because I picked it up and was not a degreed archaeologist. To me, that "academic" wasted a great opportunity to share a little more history with the public and better his museum display. Its a shame they don't teach common sense in archaeology school. I understand that looting is a huge problem world-wide, but automatically treating everyone without a degree as a looter is akin to racism, stereo-typing, profiling or whatever you want to call it. Here an archaeologist who works with a group such as yours would be stripped of his credentials and black-listed in his own profession. It is a sad truth here in the US with many archaeologists, they are taught elitist mentalities in most schools and they carry that forward, usually to the detriment of the historical record.

Such is life, my bone point and pottery is proudly displayed in my home, where we enjoy it everyday.

 

[Kiters 65]

I am glad we are here & not over there? sounds like they do not like anyone taking bits even if its to go to museums? we are all mostly grade 2/3 amateur underwater archaeologist & are the licence holders of 4 protected wreck sites by law & any one else diving in these areas could & should be prosecuted?
we have had intruders on site last weekend they were warned off by the coast guard & hopefully they wont be back, we cannot keep watch are selves as we are 250mls away & try to get down weather permitting once or twice a month,time off work & fuel cost do not allow any more time, but we have been working these site since about 1991,
we also do talks to any interested parties in various areas of the country, & attend quite a few conferences, here is another photo of gold bits we had this done into postcards for sales

 

[Bum Luck]

Interesting, it's good that you guys foot the bill, here most excavations are paid for by the tax-payers. I'd love it if we could have self-funded amateur groups here out exploring but they will arrest you for it here. Also, in the US a museum would never purchase an artifact that wasn't excavated by an academic institution. I consider myself a very well-rounded professional archaeologist, but I don't have the degree. I've read the same books, use the same methods of excavation, conservation, and research I just didn't know this was my passion when I was going through college. I've been working professionally in the marine archaeology field for over 7 years now.

Recently I found a small cluster of paleo-human artifacts while fishing, nothing incredibly special, but an almost complete bone point caught my eye right at my feet. A subsequent search of the area produced 2 pottery sherds, one with markings and what appears to be a very old human skull fragment (haven't had this verified). I went to the small local museum nearby which houses artifacts from the same site and asked what they could tell me about them, and if they would like the pieces for their collection. Seems like a good day so far, but the guy at the museum "went to get his loupe" to inspect the artifacts closer and called the law while he was in the back. They searched me, my car, my tackle boxes and informed me that I had committed a felony in the state of Florida by removing the artifacts from the water. I explained that they came from land and that I had come to the museum to donate them. The museum director was now involved and informed me that he wouldn't have my artifacts in his museum because they were not properly excavated and therefore provenance couldn't be established.

In the end I was allowed to leave and even keep my artifacts (?!) and nothing else happened. I later went to the museum with my fiancé and noted that they only had a sketch of a bone point...I had offered them an almost complete one several months earlier but it was declined because I picked it up and was not a degreed archaeologist. To me, that "academic" wasted a great opportunity to share a little more history with the public and better his museum display. Its a shame they don't teach common sense in archaeology school. I understand that looting is a huge problem world-wide, but automatically treating everyone without a degree as a looter is akin to racism, stereo-typing, profiling or whatever you want to call it. Here an archaeologist who works with a group such as yours would be stripped of his credentials and black-listed in his own profession. It is a sad truth here in the US with many archaeologists, they are taught elitist mentalities in most schools and they carry that forward, usually to the detriment of the historical record.

Such is life, my bone point and pottery is proudly displayed in my home, where we enjoy it everyday.

What a sad state of affairs.

This is my experience with the "profession" as well. They are hopelessly inbred.

Part of that is to not work with other disciplines either.

They also have a "party line" in that they bury data that doesn't jibe with their academically-approved theories.

Until those things change, they won't have much credibility and shouldn't have public support.