The Graveyard thing Again

m bryan · Aug 5, 2010

Got permission today to hunt some private property. It has an old graveyard that dates back a couple hundred years(all ancient graves). He told me to feel free to hunt it, but just dont dig over the graves.......I wouldn't want to do anything to bring shame to my fellow Tneters.

...........what do you think? Whats ok and whats not?

lafatlife · Aug 9, 2010

Do people actually read the posts or do they just see the word cemetery and automatically respond.

If the cemetery is on private property and the owner has given permission, it is not going to give our hobby a bad name.

I don't know of anyone that would dig over a grave. That to me would be extremely disrespectful. Beside the graves and the walkways and the parking areas are fine. They are no different than any other walkway or parking area anywhere else. Just because they are tied to a sad event. There are people on here who go to sites of car crashes and plane crashes and detect there. What is the difference?

People are buried at least over 2 feet deep. Even in the old days they were buried deeper. If you have a detector that reaches more than that then stay very clear of the graves.

Born2Dtect · Aug 9, 2010

lafatlife, Thank you. Your previous post hits the nail on the head. A lot of people do not read the entire post. Not only this one. You got it 100% right. THANKS!

Ed D.

Diggin-N-Dumps · Aug 9, 2010

steve from ohio said:
With all seriousness aside.......There may be a lot of gold in them teeth down there. And all the gold and diamond rings.....that they will never need anyway. I say dig up the bodies and take everything of value.......a person could get rich digging up all those old dead people. They have lots of jewelry down there.

Plus all the wallets and shoes.......and don't forget the socks.....and underwear........and the hair can be cut and sold......

But I would never ever think of metal detecting in a cemetery......a metal detector brings too much attention especially in a cemetery.

Now in all seriousness......I would never even think of detecting a cemetery. Ever. Live people don't spend much time at cemeteries and don't drop much anyway.

Stay away from any cemetery........gives the hobby a bad name.....like the grave robbers and detectorists that do go to cemeteries.

If I see any detectorist at a cemetery........there will be heck to pay....I will take your detector and wrap it around a tree. Seriously.

Haha..Im Feel uncomfortable just walking over the graves...I would think if anything was there it was meant to stay there

m bryan · Aug 9, 2010

Told the owner I wouldn't want to mistakenly dig over a grave.......He told me all graves face east according to the head stone. I stayed away from the graves and hunted the yard areas just to be sure...all I found was a bunch os junk.............

lafatlife · Aug 10, 2010

m bryan said:
Told the owner I wouldn't want to mistakenly dig over a grave.......He told me all graves face east according to the head stone. I stayed away from the graves and hunted the yard areas just to be sure...all I found was a bunch os junk.............

I commend you because you did what you felt was the right thing to do. If an owner gives you permission then you can go for it if you so choose. Again I state that people were buried deep and detectors do not go that deep unless you have spent a few thousand dollars on it and if that were the case you wouldn't be in a cemetery anyway.

Sorry you didn't find anything but perhaps if you go back to the yard after a rainy day you might have better luck.

Noodle · Aug 12, 2010

Here in my neck of the woods, and all across the USA, I imagine, there are graves (marked and unmarked), that have been desecrated by farming equipment, highway building, etc., over the past century. My cousin's g-g-grandparents' headstones are sitting in his yard because they were bulldozed away from the gravesites in a cotton field. He has no idea where the actual graves are. He just found the headstones in his cousin's shed, who owns the cottonfield. I, myself, cleaned up a cemetery from the 1800s that had been bulldozed years ago; a pile of headstones were found, with no idea of where the actual graves were. Down here (Louisiana), there are numerous tiny cemeteries with wrought iron fences around them out in the middle of fields; they may contain 2-10 graves. I always stop and trudge across the fields to make notes. I love cemeteries. They are journals of someone's life, though a small momento. But I never detect them.

Cool Hand Fluke · Aug 13, 2010

Smudge said:
Cemetaries really don't provide much of an opportunity to find things. The parking area might, if there is one.

I made a personal decision not to hunt graveyards, but its just that, a personal decision.

Our local metal detector club was invited to help in the restoration of the old Santa Rosa cemetery in northern California a few years ago. We were instructed to help find the G.A.R. (Grand Army of the Republic) brass markers placed in front of the civil war veterans grave stones. In the process of finding the G.A.R. markers we found 3 seated liberty dimes, (I got one

) a couple of barbers dimes, Indian head pennies, and a antique gold ring. The restoration committee said we could keep any coins that were found. With our help the resoration of the cemetery was a success. Without the use of metal detectors they would never have found those brass markers. So yes, good coins can be found, you just need special permission or good reason to hunt in one of those places.

gleaner1 · Aug 14, 2010

Sonoma County Mike said:
Smudge said:

Cemetaries really don't provide much of an opportunity to find things. The parking area might, if there is one.

I made a personal decision not to hunt graveyards, but its just that, a personal decision.

Click to expand...

Our local metal detector club was invited to help in the restoration of the old Santa Rosa cemetery in northern California a few years ago. We were instructed to help find the G.A.R. (Grand Army of the Republic) brass markers placed in front of the civil war veterans grave stones. In the process of finding the G.A.R. markers we found 3 seated liberty dimes, (I got one ) a couple of barbers dimes, Indian head pennies, and a antique gold ring. The restoration committee said we could keep any coins that were found. With our help the resoration of the cemetery was a success. Without the use of metal detectors they would never have found those brass markers. So yes, good coins can be found, you just need special permission or good reason to hunt in one of those places.

Mike, this is a most interesting story on many sides, especially due to its controversial nature. I am dumbfounded..... Mainly because its good to see that not all detectorists are seen in a bad light. Its almost ironic that the good services of your club were sought out by a cemetery of all places! Good work guys............

Noodle · Aug 16, 2010

When Katrina hit South Louisiana, I went down there 2-3 weeks later with a lady who had "escaped" the wrath of the hurricane and her neighborhood. We went to see if there was anything left of her house. During the 2-3 day heartbreaking trek around the neighborhood (I took hundreds of pics) and the surrounding towns, I saw things I'll never ever hope to see again. We went to the town cemetery to see the condition. I cannot simply describe it. We entered and saw the worst. Caskets, long buried, were on top of the ground, some standing on one end, open, with linings hanging out. It was horrible. There were dozens of them. Pink taffeta and chiffon just blowing in the wind. Just behind the cemetery were woods. The National Guard was there retrieving the bodies from the caskets that had been washed away from the cemetery and into the wooded area. Every body brought back was treated with total respect and honor. While the guard stood at total attention on the back of the (refrigerated) truck, the Guard members brought each person they found back on a gurney, which was then placed in the truck with total military honor by the Guard. It was an amazing and powerful thing to see, even though we were the only ones to witness it. Believe me, this was not a place you would want to metal detect in. It was holy ground. Just the same as Arlington Cemetery, so should every cemetery be thought of.

Old Town · Aug 24, 2010

XT18000 said:
Only a STINKING Archaeologist would dig in a grave yard for any reason! With the exception
of the grave diggers of course. Do all a favor and pass this one up!

This is a common MDing question. I read it all the time. The above poster has given the very best answer I've ever read. Wish I'd thought of it and might steal this guy's line in the future.

"Only a stinking arch would dig in a grave yard." My thoughts exactly.

XT18000 is my new favorite member.

Old Town

LM · Aug 24, 2010

lafatlife said:
If the cemetery is on private property and the owner has given permission, it is not going to give our hobby a bad name.

I don't know much about metal detecting and treasure hunting- I'm new to all of this- so maybe by virtue of my being able to speak more like a 'layperson' as opposed to a philosophically hardened-hobbyist, I can provide an 'outsiders' opinion on this.

Yes, I can assure you, in the minds of the general public at large- who has no knowledge of metal detecting, save for seeing the occasional old man out sweeping the beach- there's going to be gargantuan moral opposition to treasure hunting in graveyards, irrespective of if that graveyard so happens to reside on private property and the owner has given permission to do it.

If I saw a person with a metal detector out sweeping a long forgotten graveyard in some remote place, I would presume the worst- that he was preparing to desecrate human remains for the purposes of retrieving jewelery, or whatever- and immediately call the police. He could then explain himself to them.

If it's legal, then it boils down to 'thine own self be true' and all of that, but I still think metal detecting a graveyard is grotesque. Poll 100 random people off the street, and I bet you 95 agree with me. Because of this, I think we can safely say that this sort of activity does give the hobby a 'bad name'.

Oddly enough, my own ethical construct has no hesitation to dive on a shipwreck that may or may not contain human remains. I guess it's because there's a difference between an artifact of history that may contain human remains as an ancillary byproduct of a historical event and a ceremonial resting place that serves absolutely no purpose other than as a repository of dead bodies.

ivan salis · Aug 25, 2010

bottom line -- if your asking for our "ok" to do what you morallyl know in your heart is not right to do --messing around near gravesites*-- basically your ask for"our" ok --- (uh trust be the large bulk of us will say "no way") just so you can tell yourself --see other folks would do it , to justify doing what you know is wrong. -( by the way ---you alone are the keeper of your own set of morals --no one else can tell you what is right or wrong in your heart or head -- they can only said "society says" blah,blah ,blah --but you gotta live with you 24/7/ 365 --- theres lots of land --avoid the grave area --you'll sleep better at night --trust me.

BuckleBoy · Aug 25, 2010

The property owner had one request: that you not dig "over the graves." If it were me, I'd steer clear--just to be sure that the owner wouldn't look out the window/drive by/walk up on me while I was anywhere close to the graves. While I was detecting, of course I'd know what was far enough away, or not "over the graves"--but he wouldn't know that from a distance, and his definition of "over the graves" might be different from mine. In short, I wouldn't do anything to jeopardize a permission. Nor would I press him for a clarification about such a touchy issue.

-Buck

LandStar · Aug 25, 2010

I have no objection to digging around the outside of a Cemetary, or even digging open areas where there are no graves, but you really should not dig over or around graves...Ask yourself what you would think if someone dug up your final resting place after you died...Personally, I would not give 2 hoots..dig away on top of my dead body. (I get a new one in Heaven), but do have respect for others...

HH,

dneyedli@res1.mts.net · Aug 27, 2010

Nah, You should leave the cemetery for The American Indian Archaeological Research Team.
This highly respected academic group has been instrumental in the study and preservation of Caucasian remains and specializes in 200 year old cemeteries.
Once each body is exhumed, extensive study is performed, then bagged and tagged, and placed in a box to be stored in the basement of their museums.
Relatives of the exhibits can then make an appeal to have their ancestors returned to the family along with their personal effects (artifacts) for proper burial.
I would give them a call and let them know about this "ancient" cemetery so that the right thing is done.
Respectively,
Dave.

Old Town · Aug 27, 2010

I like you, Muddy. You think like me.

Is there a more pompous bunch of organized thieves than your local archeological society? I think not.

Old Town

m bryan · Aug 27, 2010

Old Town said:
I like you, Muddy. You think like me.

Is there a more pompous bunch of organized thieves than your local archeological society? I think not.

Old Town

I think sensitivity training is in order here.

Smudge · Aug 27, 2010

m bryan said:
Old Town said:

I like you, Muddy. You think like me.

Is there a more pompous bunch of organized thieves than your local archeological society? I think not.

Old Town

Click to expand...

I think sensitivity training is in order here.

For who? Us or the archaeological society?

ah....nuthin · Aug 29, 2010

Although I agree with other posters here "show some respect" and I would find digging in and around graves distasteful, I would like to point out that modern archaeology is basically grave digging of older burial sites and I see no difference between Egyptian mummies and modern corpses. Both were somebodies' loved ones once.

BuckleBoy · Aug 29, 2010

The Graveyard thing Again

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