Im confused.

[njnydigger]

Re: I'm confused.

Being a wiseass for asking a question on something I was confused on? If you would have read the entire thread you would have noticed I said I was against "digging" in areas where people have died. I was just curious why some think it's ok to dig where people have died if it was a battlefield but not a cemetery. Maybe people are becoming slightly offended because they can't think of a reason why it's different.

I didn't say you were a wiseass at all. Rather, I asked if you were just 'joshing around' or were serious in reference to your religious beliefs. Matter of fact, I even complimented you for asking the questions. A lot of people wouldn't go even that far. In short, digging in cemeteries has some bad mojo associated with it. It's a known final resting place. Nuff said

 

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[Coinstriking Michigan]

Re: I'm confused.

Being a wiseass for asking a question on something I was confused on? If you would have read the entire thread you would have noticed I said I was against "digging" in areas where people have died. I was just curious why some think it's ok to dig where people have died if it was a battlefield but not a cemetery. Maybe people are becoming slightly offended because they can't think of a reason why it's different.

I didn't say you were a wiseass at all. Rather, I asked if you were just 'joshing around' or were serious in reference to your religious beliefs. Matter of fact, I even complimented you for asking the questions. A lot of people wouldn't go even that far. In short, digging in cemeteries has some bad mojo associated with it. It's a known final resting place. Nuff said

My religious beliefs are I'm not sure god exists but I hope he does...makes me feel good. I never meant to piss anyone off with this post

 

[sniffer]

Re: I'm confused.

didn't bother me at all, it gives me something else to think about. so it's all good

 

[fishbone3d]

Re: I'm confused.

How about when people just buried their loved ones in their back yard? Back in the day, not all people could afford stones. Most of us have dug in some pretty old places. In theory, everywhere you walk, there might be a grave of a colonial person or Native American. I would personally not detect a place that is marked out of respect. But how many times do you think that you have walked over bones and didn't even know it? If you go with the theory of not digging where there might be a body, then could you really even feel good about detecting at all? So, if someone previously died in a house, do you not live there anymore? You can not let all of that stuff get to you. If you find an unmarked grave, report it. Over 40 or so were just found in my town a month or so ago, when they were digging a ditch by the high school. It was the former Poor Home from the 1800's. Just do what you personally think is ethically right. Just remember, there are a lot of bones out there in the world.

 

[njnydigger]

Re: I'm confused.

Being a wiseass for asking a question on something I was confused on? If you would have read the entire thread you would have noticed I said I was against "digging" in areas where people have died. I was just curious why some think it's ok to dig where people have died if it was a battlefield but not a cemetery. Maybe people are becoming slightly offended because they can't think of a reason why it's different.

I didn't say you were a wiseass at all. Rather, I asked if you were just 'joshing around' or were serious in reference to your religious beliefs. Matter of fact, I even complimented you for asking the questions. A lot of people wouldn't go even that far. In short, digging in cemeteries has some bad mojo associated with it. It's a known final resting place. Nuff said

My religious beliefs are I'm not sure god exists but I hope he does...makes me feel good. I never meant to piss anyone off with this post

I hear ya coinstrike Asking questions is a good thing...most of the time. This topic is just so dicey it's better left untouched - like religion or politics I don't believe in digging in cemeteries myself, but, to each their own. There are a MILLION other places to scrounge for loose change, so, why do it around the dead

 

[lookindown]

Re: I'm confused.

Dont dig where someones buried....is that simple enough? Battlefield with no marked graves and no knowledge of anyone buried there...dig it.

 

[savant365]

Re: I'm confused.

How about the fact that it just looks wrong in most peoples eyes to be digging in a graveyard? You can metal detect where ever you want but do you care about what other people think about what you are doing? Common sense has to come into play somewhere in here...battlefields are not the same as cemeteries.

 

[stagger]

Re: I'm confused.

I never have detected in a cemetery, but I can't say that I'd be against it. I simply haven't done it. I can also see why some would be against it. Let your conscience be your guide.

 

[jeff of pa]

Re: I'm confused.

How about when people just buried their loved ones in their back yard? Back in the day, not all people could afford stones. Most of us have dug in some pretty old places. In theory, everywhere you walk, there might be a grave of a colonial person or Native American. I would personally not detect a place that is marked out of respect. But how many times do you think that you have walked over bones and didn't even know it? If you go with the theory of not digging where there might be a body, then could you really even feel good about detecting at all? So, if someone previously died in a house, do you not live there anymore? You can not let all of that stuff get to you. If you find an unmarked grave, report it. Over 40 or so were just found in my town a month or so ago, when they were digging a ditch by the high school. It was the former Poor Home from the 1800's. Just do what you personally think is ethically right. Just remember, there are a lot of bones out there in the world.

Exactly.

Like here in PA, you can dig on any Piece of land
3 Feet Square & Find a Nail, bullet, or other piece of iron.

Human beings have been on PA Ground
for at least 12,000 years (Or don't those people
count) ? I doubt there is a Square acre of ground
in PA That hasn't seen Death.

If you were approached by Antietam,
to Metal detect where the bloodiest
single-day battle in American history,
with about 23000 casualties took place.

would you refuse ?

If you were approached by Arlington National Cemetery,
to metal detect it, would you refuse ?

would "your" Government help you
Forget your religous, or moral Beliefs ?

what about Pet cemeteries ?
there are many who feel animals are Human
& If you agree is there a square foot of Land
on earth Death free ?

I agree there are Certain places I would
not want to Be seen detecting, because
they are places History
says people Are Buried,
Unless I had Explicit permission,
But I also do not Judge.

Or believe Death at a certain spot Constitutes
Special Ground.
however the ground closest to a dead Person,
If Known they were buried there, to me would be

 

[Dano Sverige]

Re: I'm confused.

Detecting a visible or known cemetery is just socially and morally unnaceptable! Battlegrounds, especially in Europe, are usually "protected" sites, and off limits.
As stated, most battlegrounds would have cleared all the bodies for burial elsewhere. The problem arises when one side buried the enemy in mass graves. I doubt the victors were too bothered about being dignified and particular about how and where the bodies were dumped.
You're unlikely to come across any bones anyhow, and if you did you'd probably get the heebie jeebies, re-bury them, and go home!

As for cemeteries? Why would anyone bother? Most people were/are buried "6ft under", and your detector only goes about 18" down at most on a large item!
Add in the fact that nails on old coffins and brass screws,handles and crucifix's on newer ones, would play havoc with you before you picked up on a gold ring or necklace!
It's not really viable in my opinion, and classed as "grave robbing" anyhow!

 

[deepskyal]

Re: I'm confused.

National battlefields are sites that are off limits to detectorists because they are recognized as a final resting place for many. It's a memorial, just like a cemetery is a memorial to individuals.

I personally have seen where children were buried and other children left gifts of stuffed animals and little piles of coins as their way of showing they love and miss their friend or family. Would you dare take an offering to someone that another left as a way of showing their love and respect?

There is a cemetery near me with revolutionary war soldiers "somewhere" buried, but the exact location in the field is unknown. They did a very thorough project in an attempt to locate the graves with infrared and magnetic imagining and think they found the graves.
Archaeologists did a dig at the site too...lol Was a civil war training ground, an Indian village before that and a hospital for civil war soldiers.

And as Jeff pointed out, here in Pa., people were frequently buried where they dropped dead. There is a specific reference to such an event where a party of individuals came across a dead man in the fork of a road and buried him right there with no markings. Shallow too because of the rocky ground. Just a way to keep animals from the body.

There were skirmishes all over a lot of the states where people were buried on site that are long forgotten. And not to mention the bodies the animals did get and scattered everywhere over the years.

Known historic battlefields are respected and revered by most detectorists. It's the sites close by they search for the relics of the past...in hopes there is no body under their machine.

Al

 

[Sandman]

Re: I'm confused.

Why is it OK for Archaeologist to dig up Graves?

I don't care how old they are!

If you do it, your called a Ghoul!

Archies do it because they say it is for science but many then sell the finds. They have gotten laws passed that forbids us from digging on our own property but they can stop us from digging if they claim artifacts are buried there.

 

[Lowbatts]

Re: I'm confused.

I have no problem hunting a former cemetery in town here. Found many coffin handles and nails there also. They go to the local historical society. Gives them something to do other than argue over who's great-grandma got here first and meant the most to the town.

Of course the school district has no problem excavating and adding on to the school there as well. Even if say, multiple bodies are found during the excavation (12 skulls counted) and that excavated dirt is taken and used as backfill at another schoolyard under construction with their knowledge.

I don't hunt active cemeteries. Active cemeteries are any known graveyard or any unknown graveyard should I stumble upon one. I leave that for the degreed ghouls who need to dig out yet one more body to tell us what we were and where we started, because they got a grant to do so.

Given the number of people living around here since people started living around here, it'd be hard to hit a spot where someone hasn't fallen. But it's easy to pass on a spot where someone who has fallen has been laid to rest. If they've been removed, actually or only supposedly and the ground, yard dirt or whatever is now part of some different construct for human activity then I have no problem with hunting it.

 

[Ray S ECenFL]

Re: I'm confused.

The 'discussion' concerning hunting grave yards, both active and inactive, has been going on for some time and will continue to go on for some time. The answere to your question is that there is no answere. Everyone will have a different opinion as to what they see as the right thing to do. Morals, religious beliefs, upbringing, respect for the dead etc... all play a part in everyones reply, therefore since we all have different backrounds and different beliefs, you will never get a straight black and white answere to your questions.

Even your statement about 'final resting place' will have different meanings to different people as illustrated by the replies you have received so far. You question is a good one and has received some very good replies but there will never be agreement either way on the discussion.

Good post.

Ray S ECenFL

 

[NOLA_Ken]

Re: I'm confused.

here's a story.....I grew up in a small town called Pekin Il, Years ago in the 80's they started tearing down old schools there, and we detected those sites before and after the buildings were gone. Well, one of those sites was Douglas School and it is now a grocery store, while they were digging the foundations they found a cemetery there. It had been called Tharpe Cemetery, and was used from around 1830, until 1882 when the school was built. Allegedly the graves were moved before the school was built, turns out though that many graves had not been moved, or were unmarked at the time the cemetery was moved, and the bodies were left where they were until workers found them while digging for the store's foundations.

So, through no fault of our own, we had been detecting a cemetery for over a year. Some of the graves were only a few feet deep by that time due to landscaping, and other changes in ground level over the years. Some had been cut through by the schools foundations. I have to wonder how many items we dug that started out being in a grave.

I personally would never dig in a known cemetery, if I was digging, and found a grave, I would stop, cover it and mark the spot, and call the police.

Here's a link showing the known cemeteries where I grew up......

http://www.tcghs.org/cemeteries.htm

Look down the list at how many don't exist anymore, are just farmland or just notes on the platt map.

 

[lonesomebob]

Re: I'm confused.

I got paid to detect a cemetary.!!! The maps were a mess ! no one really knew the lots. I found a whole pile of steel, iron stakes. then using a map that they corresponded to ,we worked out the area. some graves had to be moves several feet. I didnt find diddely other than a few newer coins and trash. Bob

 

[N.J.THer]

Re: I'm confused.

I've detected one graveyard and it was by the request of the church that owns it. It is still an active graveyard but the graves go back to the 1600s. They had their 325 anniversary and knew I did alot of volunteer work in their cemetery and had also worked with many archaeologists at different battlefields so they asked me to see what I could find.

Even though there were no restrictions placed on where I detected I did set some of my own personal comfort limits. I only detected around the oldest graves. To me that meant they had to be 100+ years. I only detected pathways or open spaces and not directly over any marked graves. This grave yard is not extremely big but has some amazing history in it.

I only detected it once and it was for a short period of time. Nothing of importance was found. The things I did find included a few broken grave flag holders, some strips of lead (these were placed between some tombstones and their bases) and some modern junk.

If any site that is not off limits is detected in a respectful manner I really don't have any issues with it.

While doing restoration work in this same cemetery I have dug out tombstones where I've had to dig down 2+ feet so I could reset them so all the writing was back above the ground. This is much more disruptive to the grave site then any detecting would ever be. I think the person buried there would rather be known then their identity being lost to the ground swallowing up their tombstone. I've also repaired tombstones that were damaged by weather, time or vandales. Now that sickens me...anyone that would damage a grave site for some sick thrill.

One last thing is that someone mentioned that detectors don't even detect down far enough to find jewelery in a grave site. I don't think anyone here was ever implying that by detecting a cemetery they were looking for actual items that were buried with a body or items left from a loved one. That would be completely disrespectful and unacceptable. I was assuming they were speaking of looking for dropped coins, bullets, etc. Some of these old sites were usedfor hundreds of years...they even used them to picnic next to passed loved ones...so normal everyday items were lost all the time.

NJ