The Metal Detecting PROBLEM.

With many recent news stories of Nighthawkers Detecting and trashing sites, we ask the question. Is Metal Detecting Ruining Archaeology?

A Huge thanks to @miss_detectorist for her time, GO SUBSCRIBE.

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Usual notices:
1. We are not historians. We enjoy researching and learning, and with that we enjoy sharing our journeys with you. That said, sources for information often listed below with credits.
2. Errors. Whilst we make every attempt to not include any errors, research, and piecing stories together from dozens of sources sometimes leads to one or two. I will note here if any are found:

A: To convey the point made in the second paragraph. We really do scratch the surface here. There are thousands of Hillfort like structures that will again hold a different tale.

Credit for assets

Filter: Snowman Digital and Beachfront
B-Roll Maps: Google Maps and Google Earth Studio
Maps: National Library of Scotland Maps:
OS Maps. Media License.
Stock Footage: Storyblocks
Music: Storyblocks, epidemicsound and artlist

Credit for images:

Coins: Durham Police
British Museum: luke massey

Chapters:

00:00 - Intro
01:14 - The Find
03:24 - The Market Place
06:28 - What did we find?
09:14 - Context
11:06 - Irony

Sources:

#metaldetecting #detecting

[graceygrumble]

Detectorists and 'amateur' historians have made incalculable contributions to our discovery and understanding of the past.
Volunteers - coastguards, food kitchens, homes-for-the-night, food banks, meals-on-wheels, mountain rescue personnel, hospice workers, charity shop workers, litter collectors, Canal and River Trust volunteers, National Trust volunteers, the folks who protect and keep our footpaths open, repair them and protect them, work with children in Scouts, Brownies, D of E, sports clubs... the list is endless, are the backbone of Britain.
Some nefarious people hide among the pure of heart.
Yet, the vast majority remain bloody brilliant and we must never let the win!

[paulinehedges]

As an amateur archaeologist I am delighted when we can work with a metal detectoist. We both have so much to contribute to each other. 😊😊😊😊😊

[definitiveverse]

I've discussed this subject with many professional archaeologists over the years and licensing the hobby won't stop night hawks or anyone with a criminal mind-set, as much as licensing gun ownership stops criminals getting hold of and using them, or someone without a car license getting behind the wheel of a vehicle. There is a "us and them" mentallity among both detectorists and professional archaeologists, archaeologists tend to think that all metal detectorists are purely in it to discover treasure, which of course is far from the truth with only a minority of those who detect that actually sell their finds. Detectorists seem to think that the museum, Portable Antiquities Scheme and archaeologists want to take over their sites, the few who don't report their finds have a mistrust of the PAS and museums process as it takes such a long time for an artefact to be logged, identified, declared as treasure or not and then sold at auction, this causes impatience and mistrust among the detecting community. More understanding and educating of people wanting to detect is required, more involvement with the professional and amateur working side by side is the answer. Although criminals will be criminals no matter what.

[ButzPunk]

I'm conflicted by the severity of the punishment for those lads.

On the one hand, 18 years is an incredibly long time to lock someone up for what essentially amounts to the theft of something no-one even knew existed. No lives were endangered and no harm done to anyone.

On the other hand, a crime like this does irreparable damage to our ability to investigate history, and it seems that it would be very easy to get away with (if you're smart about how you sell it). From this point of view, harsh punishment makes sense, especially in high profile cases, as a deterrence to other prospective treasure hunters.

[dooleys]

my hobbies are varied, detectorist, motorcyclist, fishing, leisure boating, drone pilot.
"a few bad eggs" - they, are everywhere, in every hobby, they give everyone a bad name,
rule no'1 - DON'T LET THE SIDE DOWN !!! 🙂🙂🙂🙂

[DanielMcgonigle-te]

The archeologists used to break into all the tumulus around the late 1800s early 1900s and take all the gold torcs etc.
The guy from the british museum pulling out jewels with pliars, selling the gold on ebay etc (nothing happened to him). Theres bad people in every group unfortunately.

[nsein]

The fact that I live in America and I know of the rules. The new hoops to jump through (new rules) would not matter to those types of people.

[mickdavis]

Licensing would not work because the unscrupulous would carry on as before

[leegalvin]

No licence thankyou just another hobby being monetized.

[gilespender]

Thank you, as a very keen metal detectorist, with many amazing finds under his belt. I can't help but agree with you on this video. It should never be about cashing in. It should always be about the history.

[leonardjackman]

Thank you Paul for this video. Metal detecting is an addictive hobby, finding and learning about our history, if done legally.

[WCUKProductionsLtd]

Not only was this video interesting, but it also represents the detecting community in a positive way. The night hawks are not part of that community - they’re just thieves who use detectors. Cheers Paul - another top upload.

[tristanmills]

If they'd done everything legally then they may have had a reward of half the value (the other half to the land owner) after the sale (hopefully to a museum).

[cralee]

Great holes in the land you say .most of the stuff is getting smashed by the ploughs in the top 4 inches

[FlatDerrick]

I hope you reported all that treasure you pulled out of the bongo bushes!

[winstonalan]

As I understand it, in the UK the system of reporting these types of finds and the practice of rewarding the detectorist who makes them is a really good one. It would also be kind of nice to know that you contributed to an archeological discovery, and on top of that, the government gives you a reward for it at a substantial portion of the value of the treasure. I would really like to see something like this in North America. One day I would like the opportunity to detect in the UK, and to spend some time there and get out and see some fantastic historical locations. I was there once for 24 hours a long time ago - it wasn't long enough!

[Hadesdetecting]

As a detectorist myself I totally agree with how they were treated, I have had a 2 hoards myself but unlike them followed the code of conduct.Glad to say one of my hoards is now in a museum after archeologists excavated it for all to enjoy (and it's significant academic value will be learnt about).I've never been in it for the money and never sold anything.Great informative video as ever.

[mwcooke]

You had me until the end. Licenses and such like just make the freedom to get into a hobby like metal detecting all the more difficult. There’s already legislation. By adding more rules you just “punish” the people who are doing things right in the first place., because the “baddies “ don’t follow the rules, that’s why they’re “baddies”.

[PaulEcosse]

Sad to think but of course there are people like this. I loved the Detectorists series and loved that they finally won the day.

[paulinehedges]

Thanks Paul and hello Ellie. Thank you both for making the points about being responsible when detecting, the importance of context and sharing those finds with the rest of the community. Great video.
😊😊😊😊😊