you are all looters

unclemac

unclemac

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Oct 12, 2011
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UK treasure hunters make archeologists see red | Europe | DW.DE | 05.09.2013


..so if i read this right, the only people that have a "right" to pick up artifacts, either on the surface or in the ground...are university trained archaeologists that are on sanctioned digs. Everyone else is just a looter that is disturbing the valuable context information of that penny you picked up in the farmers field.

Now don't get me wrong, I love archaeology, fascinates me, and many, many sites SHOULD be left to them....but man oh man I get tired of "experts" tossing their weight around and acting like they have exclusive "rights" due to their degree.
 

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Thier museums would not have even a small percentage of the excavated metal finds if it were not for people with metal detectors. I would like to see some of the achaeologists personal collections, but of course they are entitled to it. :icon_scratch:
 

...I actually know an American archaeologist with a FANTASTIC Anasazi pot collection....all "legally" obtained mind you....but having said that, they do know the laws and know how to separate "work" from "hobby".
 

...every archi I know has a FANTASTIC collection....personel collection :icon_scratch:...wave of the future here too...you cant trap,but the Gov will,you cant dredge but the Gov will,you cant hunt but the Gov. will oh and you will pay for the Gov to do all of this through more tax's......
 

I have personally experienced it that what you may have found, (not them) is not that significant of a find, but if they were to find it it would be a whole new story.
 

The Archaeologist in this artical has got it all wrong, the UK museums have a very good working relationship with the MDing community. Yes there will be a few flies in the soup that claim jump onto sanctioned areas or archaeological digs, but there are bad people everywhere in everything that has the potential to make money. To stereotype all metaldetectors as bad people is the same as saying all archaeologists are power hungry and greedy bureaucrats. They have to look at it like the archaeologal world has thousands of people working for them for FREE. All they have to do is return the finds back to the finder once it has been studied and cataloged, and if the item is considered historically significant then pay the finder the value for it. It's that simple and cost the Gov. very little in terms of the volume of data it is receiving. Now that the UK is doing just that, they are able to get a much better idea of where the ancient peoples lived and traveled by plotting all the finds that are being supplied to them by the metal detecting community. To have professional archies doing this at the current pace would cost the UK hundreds of millions of British pounds per year. It is truly a win win scenario and to have one foolish archaeologist clamour to get his name in the papers and risk loosing what they have is pure lunacy.
ZDD
 

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Anytime I see an article like this, critical of metal detecting, the first thing I look to see is: is it written by archies? (or the news babe reporter running to interview archies for their comments). And when I see it's an archie saying whatever (usually dire-sounding things), I give LITTLE CREDENCE to it. And I don't know why any other md'rs get worried when they read such things with quotes from archies. I mean, WHAT DID YOU EXPECT? Archies (the purist ones anyhow), hate md'ers. So what did you expect their articles to say? Why does that surprise or worry md'rs?

Let me give you an example: If you were to meet a representative of the animal rights wacko group PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals), and you asked him or her: "Hi. Can I leave my pet bunny in the car while I run into 7-11 to get a slurpee?". What do you think the PETA rep would say? She'd shreek: "Nnnneooohhh! You can be arrested for animal cruelty! The bunny could suffocate! Your car can be confiscated! How can you be so cruel??!" But sheesk, what did you expect to come from an animal rights wacko like that? SO TOO DO I PUT LITTLE STOCK in what archies say about md'ing.
 

See what you started unclemac. Yep, we're all looters and we have a million justifications why. But Tom in Ca. better not pick on PETA or we'll take his bunny away...
 

Looter - :occasion14:Guilty as charged and lovin it!!!!!!
 

sounds like you need to go back to school and get a degree in trapping...
 

Wait a minute guys you aren't seeing the big criminal here, it isn't us just look at what those British archaeologist "wankers" have done all over the world. They robbed the tombs in Egypt, robbed palaces and tombs in India. Seriously where do they get off calling us looters when they have gone into other countries and robbed them blind and actually made the locals do the hard back breaking work. Archaeologists are hypocrites.

Get your facts first, then distort them as you please-Mark Twain
 

I had a archy tell me once "so you use those devil-sticks to loot the ground" i busted out laughing so hard... I told him "man you got really bad don't u"... Don't get me wrong though, some Archys are very professional and nice, but most once they find out you are a MDer will turn into delusional behavior. I think i may have this one archy I know of get evaluated for 72 hours in a mental health facility, because there is something not right with him.
 

Hi all,
The way I see it, do as you will. They're going to do what their going to do anyway. If it has value they will make a monument or historical location. I think it's all aimed at keeping common people "common" and we get stepped on way too much. Keep your real finds secret till your done in that area, just don't be a grave/mound robber.
 

In Ireland, you officially need 'permission' from the government every time you want to go detecting.

A fine of up to 63,000e (83,000usd) if you have a detection device 'to search for archaeological objects'.


Link to the 'Law' regarding detection, and the consequences if caught.
http://tinyurl.com/nrxqcq6
 

What people who write this forget is that our 'code of conduct' (not Law but best practice) states that you only dig in the plough soil & if you are starting to go deeper then you should call in the Archies. Therefore, every item I dig is totally out of context & has no Archeological value (in purest terms), although it does give a picture of the site. Now in the last 50 years chemicals have distroyed the roman coins & ploughs are constantly damaging the objects, so it should be farmers they are chasing. As we are saving the objects from further damage. Archaeological principals are about the preservation of the Archaeology & minimal destruction. The plough for hundreds of years have distroyed the archaeological layers & we are saving & protecting the in dangered items.
The issue they should focusing on:
1. farmers deep ploughing & chemicals
2. are those that do it on sites that are protected by Law
3. those that do not record their finds

One of the reasons we GPS everything is because in the future no-one can come to me & state this arguement. NO INFORMATION has been lost & HISTORY has been SAVED! Plus I have made little or no money, as I never sell unless they buy it by Treasure Law.
 

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In Nova Scotia and as in many other areas around the world governments are adopting the UNESCO underwater perservation program which puts a complete ban on all underwater salvage and recommends every site be studied instu. The archi world has baned even themselves from recovering objects from the sea :icon_scratch:.

Once treasure gets in the news it stirs up the debate. In Nova Scotia when the newly elected government was swayed by the provincial museums to adobt a program similar to the UNESCO guidlines they did so without even consulting with the diving comunity, all current agreements the government had with salvage opperations were recinded with no compansation for the money that they had invested.
It can happen again to the MDing world, that is why TV shows like Driggers can really kill this hobby.
When treasure hits the news everyone wants to claim it as theirs and the archies are no different.
ZDD
 

Monkstown said:
In Ireland, you officially need 'permission' from the government every time you want to go detecting.

A fine of up to 63,000e (83,000usd) if you have a detection device 'to search for archaeological objects'.


Link to the 'Law' regarding detection, and the consequences if caught.
http://tinyurl.com/nrxqcq6
Click to expand...

in my state you can't pick up an arrowhead out of context off the beach....or for that matter an eagle feather...
 

Zodiacdiverdave said:
In Nova Scotia and as in many other areas around the world governments are adopting the UNESCO underwater perservation program which puts a complete ban on all underwater salvage and recommends every site be studied instu. The archi world has baned even themselves from recovering objects from the sea :icon_scratch:.

Once treasure gets in the news it stirs up the debate. In Nova Scotia when the newly elected government was swayed by the provincial museums to adobt a program similar to the UNESCO guidlines they did so without even consulting with the diving comunity, all current agreements the government had with salvage opperations were recinded with no compansation for the money that they had invested.
It can happen again to the MDing world, that is why TV shows like Driggers can really kill this hobby.
When treasure hits the news everyone wants to claim it as theirs and the archies are no different.
ZDD
Click to expand...


so true, look what happened to "odyssey marine"....ouch!!

Black Swan Project - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 

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