The Graveyard thing Again

[m bryan]

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?

 

[m bryan]

Geesh...this particular topic is getting a bit old.....almost 7 months. Why was this dug up again? (pardon my pun)

Do we need to "bury"this subject?

 

[gleaner1]

Nobody detects graveyards. This whole thing is a lesson in nothingness.

 

[Dirty Money]

It is simply about respect.

 

[novafinder]

nothing in them but graves not worth the time you might as well find a old park somewhere

 

[angler 07]

If someone dug up my bones looking for long lost relics that I may have posessed to increase their own understanding of where they came from, I would not be offended in the least. Actually, I'd be honored to be contributing to the "offending" party's curiosity. I've never dug a grave (and don't plan to) but at the same time I'm not interested in blindly following superstitions that reinforce the fear of death (fear of the unknown).

 

[Randyd]

I think my last wishes are going to include. "Put a handful of foreign coins in my pockets, in case someone digs me up in the future "
That way they can wonder how I got there.

Rand yd

 

[longsocks]

I have read, and now I'm gonna voice my opinion....This thread should not even exist... I think people should have enough common sense, not to even ask the question, is it ok or not, to hunt a cemetery or grave yard..
Its a Holy place, its a place for our kin, and loved ones to rest.. There are 6 thousand places to metal detect, and no one should have to ask or go to one, and do it...By asking and doing, it puts all those that hunt, in a bad light with, law enforcement, religious groups, and all those want to stop us from detecting, in the first place. Ammunition doesn't need to be given to any of those people...
What can you possibly find that is so valuable, to make anyone think of going there?. The thought of finding a Wheatie or a nickel ?
I know there are those, who are not gonna like my post, "but its my opinion".. I have been detecting since 1980,and this sport has been fun, and rewarding.. In Wisconsin, now we are having to deal with the DNR, because of some people who detected, and posted items on Ebay for sale that were of historic value, and some state person saw it, now we no longer can hunt on DNR land or State Parks.. Doesn't take much to get the crazies against us..

 

[metaldetectorguy]

again? really?

 

[dahut]

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?

As you enter the graves, say a prayer for the departed:

"God our Father,
Your power brings us to birth,
Your providence guides our lives,
and by Your command we return to dust.

Lord, those who die still live in Your presence,
their lives change but do not end.
I pray in hope for my family,
relatives and friends,
and for all the dead known to You alone.

In company with Christ,
Who died and now lives,
may they rejoice in Your kingdom,
where all our tears are wiped away.
Unite us together again in one family,
to sing Your praise forever and ever."

Then stay off the graves proper.

 

[kevkirki]

i would hunt around it or by the main gate....creep me out if i dug up a bone

 

[Lucky13]

Dude, Private Property or Not, If you dig in a KNOWN cemetery , I hope the coroner buries you with twenty cents in your pocket and then a great flood washes away your headstone. I`ll then purchase a metal detector for the neighborhood kids.

 

[lonesomebob]

I used to dig in cemetaries. I was a sexton. hehehe

 

[Bum Luck]

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.

"The hunter has no gallery to applaud or disapprove of his conduct... Whatever his acts, they are dictated by his own conscience rather than a mob of onlookers. It is difficult to exaggerate the importance of this fact."
Aldo Leopold

That should be our watchword as well.

 

[mrwilburino]

R.I.P. .........This Topic

 

[lookindown]

STAY OUT OF GRAVEYARDS.....or just dont dig very deep over the bodies.

 

[gleaner1]

I love "The Graveyard thing Again" post. It's mind bending and despicable and creepy and provocative. And interesting because the word "thing" was not capitalized. Anyway, I stand before all members and declare that if it were somehow discovered that a treasure of $20,000 in pre-civil war gold coins were known to be buried one foot deep, one pace to the North of one certain Snedly G. Dumbtonsile's grave, that most of us would just go get it (not me, I dont dig in graveyards). Ah! But it's too late! Some despicable creepy dirt bag graveyard diggin low life has already gotten the treasure. I hate it when they do that.

 

[tomjiggy]

Wow!! Awesome topic, and a lot of great answers. It can get pretty twisted sometimes(how we interpret someone elses response), and some heat can come from a great discussion such as "ethical reasoning" like digging in or around a cemetary whether private or local.
In this discussion we aren't talking about inadvertantly digging a grave we did not know was there, which makes the question originally posted even more difficult. Aparently the owner was not against detecting in and around the graves as long as it wasn't done on top of the graves. This is a special permission considering how controversial the subject is, which indicates there was a great deal of trust put on the detectorist. I can understand why he posted this discussion in the first place, and my hat's off to him for doing so. Faced with an ethical dilemma such as this would make even myself think twice about how to do this correctly, and for the record, I think he made the right choice. After all, this may have been a test by the owner of the property to determine how much he can trust detectorists in general(or, and I'm fantasizing a little, if he can trust him with a family secret about a possible family cache that was lost ). We can never be certain of what motivation the owner might have had for giving him this special permission.
I wish he had found something cool he could have shared with us after going through the trouble of questioning the MD world for their collective opinion. I think he might still be able to go back after a nice rain, or when it gets cold and find something of value. Even if he doesn't, I think he has found something of value here, and that's peace of mind knowing that he did the right thing both in his eyes and in the eyes of the general MD world.

 

[gleaner1]

tomjiggy I really really want the last word on this one. No, really.

 

[Jason in Enid]

Word.

 

[Mzjavert]

I'd be perfectly happy to search around the paremeter and around the graves. Look for areas where families would have parked a buggy or had a picnic. After all a trip to the cemetery wasn't a quick five minute drive back in the day. So many old cemeteries are used for target practice or worse. You should be proud to save a bit of the history from the site.