old graveyards

[chickweed]

What do you think? Is it a good idea to search in an old graveyard? Is it legal? Is it moral?

[gregl01]

No not moral. Check out www.fmdac.com for their code of conduct.
Greg

[chickweed]

No not moral. Check out www.fmdac.com for their code of conduct.
Greg

Oh God, please don't misunderstand what I am saying!!!! I don't mean I want to dig up corpses and wrestle their wedding bands off their boney hand!!!! THAT is soooo wrong in every respect.

I am asking about something a bit different....but possibly just as wrong.

If I were to detect metal in a cemetery, and found artifacts that were NOT buried with the deceased, ( say 8 inches down, but obviously put there by a loved one...possibly yrs later)..would it be wrong to take them?

Ok, so my head says "OF COURSE THAT IS WRONG!!!!"......But...do people do that? Do people steal stuff from grave sites w/o feeling bad about it?

And what about finding stuff just below the suface in old abandoned cemeteries? Is that ok to do?

What are your feelings on the subject?

[Sandpit]

In past 30 yrs. of detecting have hunted around many grave yards, but never on them. Just my personal call. Let yr consious be yr guide.

[hollowpointred]

in my opinion, yes it would be wrong to take something left by a mourning relative . it wasnt meant for you to have. not only that if someone sees you detecting in a cemetary they will think you are grave robbing and that all detectorists are grave robbers. it just isnt worth it when there are so many other spots to hunt.

[Skrimpy]

And what about finding stuff just below the suface in old abandoned cemeteries? Is that ok to do?

What are your feelings on the subject?

One better. What about OLD, OLD cemeteries where all the bodies had been removed and relocated? Cemetery in questino was in use from the 1750s until about 1910. It is no longer marked as a cemetery, there are no stones and no bodies. Would this be wrong?

[Historyhound]

And what about finding stuff just below the suface in old abandoned cemeteries? Is that ok to do?

What are your feelings on the subject?

One better. What about OLD, OLD cemeteries where all the bodies had been removed and relocated? Cemetery in questino was in use from the 1750s until about 1910. It is no longer marked as a cemetery, there are no stones and no bodies. Would this be wrong?

In a case such as this, I beleive, it would be open for business, so to say. It is no longer designated or treated as "sacred" ground. Anything left behind is free for the taking. I say "hunt away and GL"

[poppa19]

What do you think? Is it a good idea to search in an old graveyard? Is it legal? Is it moral?

ive be kicking the idea around in my head also because i live next door to a very old cemetary but i just cant bring myself to "hunt" there i also ask the same questions is it legal?

[westernNY]

I had the fortune to find an old cemetary on a hill side in Catt county, with dates on the stones all dating back to the 1800's and a couple early 1900 hundreds. Naturally since i was there and without any evidence of an official cementary I walked around in the brushy growth and detected - only reward was an 1800 coin and memories of inscriptions on the stones. A more rememberable experience was in Virginia - was called upon to provide services of resurrecting a Southern families cemetary. Never forget in the corner was a wooden bench where a father read his bible daily to his fallen - buried son - a Capt in the Confederate Army. What really grabbed me was - he died of a broken heart a year later. Helping the southern folks in there efforts made this "yankee" a welcomed person. Concerning cemetaries - let your heart be your guide.

[Marauder Dan]

Bad Karma and a short life is what you can expect hunting a cemetary whether or not any people or stones are there,,its a no no!!

[vision quest]

Just a thought, but is it any different than hunting a battlefield where many many people may have died. Hallowed ground. I'm not suggesting it to be right or wrong, it just came to mind.

[Evolx10]

Just a thought, but is it any different than hunting a battlefield where many many people may have died. Hallowed ground. I'm not suggesting it to be right or wrong, it just came to mind.

Good point.
I also wonder how many caches were left for loved ones , only to have the person die before conveying the message, and years later have a stranger dig it up and declare it found treasure and his/hers. you can probably imagine death-misery-love-strong emotions being attached to the stories of many of our finds so i don't see past forgotten stuff like that an issue. But as far as visible stones ** i would definitely not bother, even with my lax morals.

non marked -old grave sites/yards, ehh what the hell, just don't dig too deep.

[Neil in West Jersey]

I have detected older cemeteries. I never go any where near gravesites; the bordering edges of the grave yard as well as the dirt access roads will sometimes produce some nice finds.

[NGE]

My friend and I were hunting an old stone church here in Michigan one day. And an old guy came around front and wanted to know if we were finding anything, well we weren't, So he says, " Come around back " we were very leary of this guy, (we never saw him before). So we reluctantly followed him, what a surprise, there was a small 10 grave cemetery behind the place. It had broken down, rotted wood fence around it. The old guy said, C'mon in. Check out everything, see if you can find anything! We explained to him about the morals of the hobby, and that we never, ever hunt inside of cemeteries. He said it was okay, it was his family's graveyard, he said the last one buried there was back in 1945, and he will be the next and last one to be buried there. He was tidying up the place when he heard us out front talking to each other. He also told us to scan over each grave to see how deep our machines could go, well only one grave gave off a signal, it was the 1945 grave, can ya believe it, the only one that was not a wooden casket! We found several coins in the early 1900's but nothing else. I have been in only 2 other cemetery's since, both on historical endeavors.