Last chance on the hotspot... Saxon Brooch - UPDATED - GPS-ing

[CRUSADER]

We had our last chance on the new land hotspot tonight before the crop shows. 2 hours trying to find the extent of the roman area.

Got 8 roman coins (4 each), which takes us over our 300 target to 306

More importantly we shared finding our FIRST ever Anglo-Saxon Brooch. Small-long brooch dating to the 6th century I found the bottom piece & shortly after Dad got the middle piece. The top square headed piece is still out there to find. There is remains of the iron pin in the catchplate which indicates it was in the locked position. I'm going to speculate & say that it was a burial good, as it did come off a slight mound. We have GPSed all finds & of course we will be back to find the limits of the site & hopefully the rest of the brooch.

WHAT A GREAT FIELD - Celtic, Roman, Saxon, Medieval

 

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[shaun7]

Re: Last chance on hotspot... Saxon Brooch

nice them 15 detectorists were obviously not that thorough!

 

[jeff of pa]

Re: Last chance on the hotspot... Saxon Brooch

Nice Finds as usual CRUSADER

 

[TimC (North Alabama)]

Re: Last chance on the hotspot... Saxon Brooch

Wow! the 6th century, that's just too cool.

 

[CRUSADER]

Re: Last chance on the hotspot... Saxon Brooch

Wow, something interesting happened whilst I was out last night. I wonder what I missed

 

[shaun7]

Re: Last chance on the hotspot... Saxon Brooch

i'm saying nothing

 

[CRUSADER]

GPS-ing Ploughed Fields

Here is a short explanation as to why we (Dad & I) think its a good idea to GPS significant finds (this includes most coins & artefact's Medieval & earlier, plus some rarer 17th century stuff):

Most of our best fields have been cultivated since late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age & continued to be farmed into the Roman period & so on. These fields archaeological layers have been messed with for some time. The deeper undisturbed layers will from time to time be ploughed up by modern deep ploughing.

I only detect the ploughed soil & guidelines encourage me not to dig in archaeological layers which I respect.

Some might ask: "Why GPS in a ploughed field, as its probably moved some distance from its drop point?"
Here are examples of that happening:
Soil brought in from miles away & dumped on the land.
Soil dropping off of combines wheels (they carry a ton of soil on all 4 wheels)
Sticking to the plough & dropping off
Soil slippage on hills
Magpies picking up shiny objects & so on....

So why GPS?
1) The Saxon Brooch is a good example. I found one third, Dad got another & the last bit is still out there (I hope). They were less than 2 metres apart & the break was healed so its not a recent break. Without GPSing finding that spot in the middle of the field would be very difficult.
2) For items that fall under the Treasure Trove Act, I can give a good grid ref. I'm only required by Law to give a six figure reference but I like to be more precise.
3) We have done the most detailed detecting survey ever for our local area. This can be later studied after my death & is useful when planning construction work on the land.
4) The farmers like to know where the finds come from, particularly the ones I have given them. So they get detailed maps of the finds.
5) I can track back finds & coins to the places I found them.
6) Many items do not move as much as you image, specially on the flat fields we detect. So we can study consentrations of finds & even patterns (like linear features, or long gone field boundries). Clearly this will help target future years searchs.
7) I help book writers with there research & they really appreciate this level of detail.
8 ) A whole bunch of historical reasons

There are a few more to, but if anyone can convince me I wasting my time then I will happily stop?

 

[PANNONIAN]

Wow! 306 is a nice number in Roman coins. And I think the GPS is a good idea. Pannonian

 

[grumpyolman]

I too use a GPS but it's mostly for SAR work. We use the Universal Transverse Mercator grid system and a mapping program called Terrain Navigator Pro. Might want to check those out. What were the grid coordinates? (Just kidding!) Jim

 

[49er]

Fantastic finds there Crusader. Wish we had the types of digs you have on the other side of the pond....WTG

 

[CRUSADER]

I too use a GPS but it's mostly for SAR work. We use the Universal Transverse Mercator grid system and a mapping program called Terrain Navigator Pro. Might want to check those out. What were the grid coordinates? (Just kidding!) Jim

Thanks for the info, I have looked at some mapping software for the GPS although its double what the GPS cost. Dad does all of the mapping & likes doing it the hard way. lol

 

[dougadam]

Sweet