A black eye for metal detectorists....

[Mike from MI]

Metal Detecting 101 | National Geographic Channel

 

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[Valley Ranger]

Not a significant number of readers/viewers, as bad as it may appear. My experience is that most of us hunt private land anyway. Let them have their public places while all "their" history corrodes into dust. Everyone loses, most of all, the public.

 

[bill from lachine]

Folks,

Kind of ironic when you think of it.....in the early days archeologists were primarily grave robbers and most of the great relics and finds that grace museums today came from well to do families who bequeathed items to museums for free and were passed along without any in situ information or provenance attached.

Me thinks those who live in glass houses should not throw stones....lol.

Regards + HH

Bill

 

[gypsybandit]

I get permission mostly on private lands . Play by the rules and you'll be okay... The government of any kind needs to know what you dig up .. treasures or pop tabs .

 

[0121stockpicker]

I didn't think the article was all that bad. Author tried to be balanced and listen to both sides. On another note I had no idea that bell invented the MD. That's a cool little factoid.

 

[Wildcat1750]

I didn't think the article was all that bad. Author tried to be balanced and listen to both sides. On another note I had no idea that bell invented the MD. That's a cool little factoid.

I didn't know that either, plus I believe Bell was one of the original founding members of The National Geographic Society (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Graham_Bell).
Nick

 

[WHADIFIND]

All I can say is, You can have my detector when you pry it from my cold, dead fingers.

 

[Talon]

I honestly thought it cast detectorists as being misunderstood and for the most part trying to help. The only "black eye" I really saw was the guy trying to dig up the pirate treasure at the beginning. Even the comment about Gettysburg was balanced out with the fact that we no longer do that and that was the old days.

 

[silversweeper]

I worked for quite a few years in the field of Archeology when I was younger, mainly to learn proper recovery and recording techniques, and I can respect the reason there is "bad blood" and misunderstanding between Archies and detectorists. After all, I think we will all admit that there are many people swinging a detector now days who deserves a swift kick in the....coil for their methods and motives. HOWEVER, I have yet to see an archeologist on any of the demolition/contruction sites that I've detected on. Fact is that if it were not for us "diggers" there are a whole lot of historic/prehistoric sites that would never be discovered and would be destroyed and lost in the name of "progress". I can list a whole lot of sites that are absolutely gone now due to the bull dozer but from which I saved a few interesting relics before it was too late, and I never ran into even one "professional archeologist" in the process on any of those sites, some on public land and some private. Just my two cents worth.

 

[Diggerjohn]

Not a significant number of readers/viewers, as bad as it may appear. My experience is that most of us hunt private land anyway. Let them have their public places while all "their" history corrodes into dust. Everyone loses, most of all, the public.

Old Stonewall is right. The longer that artifacts are in the ground, the more they corrode. I would be nice if the government could have a lottery program so you could hunt on federal land. Saving a historical find so it can be "discovered" by an archaeological prof. is crap. Diggers should be engaged in finding sites.

 

[coinshooter]

Publicity for Metal Detectorists is always skewed by the media to create drama. It is not good when these folks twist things to make us look like grave robbers, etc.
Archies are just jealous and pissed because we do the research and get there without all the BS they have to follow up on.

 

[Deepdiger60]

I agree with old stonewall 100% today archeologists have no idea what they are doing . just leave it in the ground to rot .

 

[jeff of pa]

I see no Black eye for Detectorist's, Just for those Archies who refused to let him dig the possible treasure chest,
then most likely snuck in & dug it for themselves.

 

[WHADIFIND]

I see no Black eye for Detectorist's, Just for those Archies who refused to let him dig the possible treasure chest,
then most likely snuck in & dug it for themselves.

Oh sure they did. But, they would have worked the wording around until it read so that they HAD permission to make this outstanding historical finding. Story will be in Archeologist's Annual, complete with THEIR names emblazoned on the plaque in front of the exhibit.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

No, it's not the media (aka "publicity") that "makes us look bad" here. Nor the "archies" that "make us look bad" in this story-link here. It's the CLOWN "Richard Mooney" from Florida, who goes waltzing off to the bureaucrats asking them "can I dig up this spot in *your* beach? Which I am *90% sure* is *treasure*?" I mean, c'mon! What a frickin' clown! What did he EXPECT a legally obligated archie or bureaucrat would answer to that?? For starters, this Richard fellow is probably a dreamer, and it's just a hubcab signal. And now all he's done is give a bunch of bored bureaucrats a pressing issue that they must address "through all the proper legal channels". And, doh, what did you EXPECT the archies, they consult, to say? I mean, for pete's sake, the media is just going to cite the quotes that those folks say. And NONE OF IT would have happened, if "Richard" had kept his mouth shut, and just dug the fricken signal! Sure, even if it means coming back at night to have a little discretion a keeping busy-bodies at bay. Heck, the mere fact he was detecting there, tells me that ...... apparently, the mere act of metal detecting was not forbidden.

So if you ask me, the "persecution" is brought on here, as is often the case, by the Richard fellow himself. Who gets attention, media, and "rules written" and "publicity publicized", by being the squeeky wheel begging for grease.

 

[Connecticut Sam]

All I can say is, You can have my detector when you pry it from my cold, dead fingers.

How about your guns?