Cemetery hunting

[smurf-42]

This is my feelings on this subject...it is WRONG!

There are so many other places to metal detect out there, why a cementary? I have heard alot of people burying rings and necklaces in the dirt near the tombstone that were lost before their loved one was buried. They put it there thinking it should be safe and it is near their loved one. That is also where it should stay, in the dirt near their loved one.

Sue

 

[metalmolly]

Personally it doesn't bother me since I know what we are looking for was dropped by the living but if you took a poll I bet you'd find that most people who don't detect would find it real offensive. Good ol horse sense tells me it would be bad for both me and the detecting community as a whole to have people see me dig in cemeteries so I would never do it.

 

[jeff of pa]

The article I read was in May 2008 Lost Treasure.
It was on out of the way places to hunt.
It says to hunt along the roads to the
cemeteries or outside the fences and boundries.
It also says that what you would find wouldn't
be worth the time spent on it.

Yes the latest one Goes Fruther.

He even says at one Stone he got a signal
and was Imagening finding a Wedding ring
Placed there by a Loved one in her Grief
over a hundred years ago,
but was Disappointed when it turned
out to be a nail.

 

[mpostma]

I would NEVER hunt a cemetery looking for finds! Not cool.
I did go through a 'lost" cemetary for a genealogy society last year though.
They were trying to find the graves but the original wooden crosses and markers were long gone. The site was grown over with brush and small trees.
I managed to find old nails around some slight depressions. When they added up the spots I marked they had the right number of sites.

Felt kinda odd even doing that! I even helped them put in a civil war memorial for a wounded civil war soldier burried there.

We even burried the hand cut nails that were found while tracking down the graves.

Cemeteries should be treated with respect.

Good Luck,
Mark

 

[mlayers]

I have also read the article in Lost Treasure May 2009 it is title How to Treasure Hunt Cemeteries. I am another that do not hunt them out of respect.

IF anyone would like to see the article you can go to www.LostTreasure.com and you can see the magizine and read all the articles from their website.

Matt

 

[eldorado]

MORALS, ETHICS,,,, I heard that described as,,, Obedience, to the un-inforceable. pretty good definition in my book. I do not think I could looka person in the eye, after going tekin in a cemetary , but to each there own, some women like 14 year old boys, who am I to judge.

 

[mpostma]

Ok Eldorado,
The real question is this: Where were these women when we were 14? LOL.

I agree completely on detecting in a cemetary. The other person I need to look in the eye is that guy in the mirror in the morning.

Good Luck,
Mark

 

[Gary in Pennsylvania]

...does someone stoop so low as to remove a ring or necklass from the finger or neck of someone buried without coffin? If so, I hope the owner goes home with them to reclaim it.

HA HA HA!
Best line in the thread!

I'd NEVER hunt a cemetary.
I'd hunt a church out FRONT if it had a cemetary out back......but I wouldn't go near that cemetary. It's a respect thing.

However I DO enjoy walking through cemetaries and reading the headstones.
I'm often left wondering "What's your story.....?"


-

 

[savant365]

I am not very superstitious but hunting and digging around graves and headstones would only bring bad karma. I have enough of that already. I also agree that it's disrespectful, not only to the deceased but for the living family. I don't want someone coming up to me and ask what I am doing to their Grandmas grave. There are plenty of other places to hunt and I have enough problems in my life without asking for more.

HH Charlie

 

[trusty]

After rereading the article, where the author talks about hunting the "empty plot" next to a deceased spouse, I wonder what my reaction would be in seeing someone MDing next to my wife's resting spot. Next time I visit, I'm going to see if anyone has been there. It would probably Pi$$ me off!!!

 

[OPUS1]

Don't forget your detector Trusty

Just jokin

 

[rjw4law]

I had a friend that had no problem with this....Not my taste, I feel its a bad image.

 

[Noodle]

I have no problem with hunting the surrounding areas of a cemetery (by the way, for those interested, there is no "A" in cemetery), but cannot hunt the cemetery grounds themselves because people have always placed items on the tops of graves that are loved and special to them with the loved one buried there. That is just ... wrong. Of course, people rob convenience stores all the time, too.

Our little church was built on the site of the (surrounding) cemetery about 140 years ago. I wouldn't hesitate to hunt the grounds of the church, but not the cemetery. I keep threatening to do that, but haven't, for some reason...

Noodle

 

[Drache]

people who hunt graveyards should never leave them....

 

[IronSpike]

I've detected church yards, but not cemeteries/grave sites.

As long as permission has been optained I'm not sure I follow/understand what the moral issue is about? Most likely you'll dig 6" not 6'.

 

[Gary in Pennsylvania]

As long as permission has been optained I'm not sure I follow/understand what the moral issue is about? Most likely you'll dig 6" not 6'.

Sigh......


Apparently, you didn't read the thread.
You ought to.

-

 

[zztop357]

I have detected a cemetery, by request from a care taker trying to locate graves and markers. Seems some kids or seemingly adults decided to destroy all the headstones w/ a ak47 or 30-30 rifle.What they didn't shoot, they ran over w/ a 4-wheeler. I helped find metal markers in the ground or metal vases and cans placed there to hold flowers.We also found 2 graves he didn't know was there. When it drys out some I'm going back to see if we can find some of the headstones that was thrown off a 100ft drop-off.
The oldest headstones here were before 1846.This is before our county even had a name. I was glad to help the man find the graves.I think its a shame that even after these people are dead that a few drunks and kids won't let them R.I.P.
I was detecting the road and surrounding woods when I found one of the graves....When I found out what it was I started asking questions about who was taking care of the cemetery. I happen to know the man doing it.So hubby and I went the next day and showed him the grave I found. It may be a person buried in UN-hallowed ground.Because they aren't in the cemetery proper.Or they be 2 of the very few slaves that were brought to our small town.Either way they deserve our respect.
No I would not detect in a cemetery if I knew it.Unless it was to help locate markers and such for public records and for family members to to locate loved ones.That is the only way. zztop

 

[davew0710]

Yea, I'd sure like to hear the jist of the article, not just the title. Something don't sound kosher.

Al

I have read the article and the author is all in favor of hunting cemeteries.
The title of the article is: "How to hunt Old Cemeteries." He advocates starting with the roads leading in, the around the areas where the water sources are found. THEN, he suggests hunting around the entrances to the vaults and head stones. He has hopes of finding old rings near the headstones. His one sensible piece of advise is don't dig deep.
I had to check and see if this was the April 1st edition of the magazine, but it is the May issue.
While the thought of hunting cemeteries is interesting, I would really have to think about before firing up the detector.

 

[Likely Guy]

zztop357 wrote: "So hubby and I went the next day and showed him the grave I found. It may be a person buried in UN-hallowed ground.Because they aren't in the cemetery proper.Or they be 2 of the very few slaves that were brought to our small town.Either way they deserve our respect."

They could have been slaves, or of another religion (usually Jewish) but most often when someone was buried outside the cemetery proper it was due to suicide. But like you said, "Either way they deserve our respect."