The War On Metal Detecting: We Are Unworthy?

Okay, I decided to tackle this. mainly because I've been a treasure hunter for a long time, have friends who are long-term metal detecting hobbyists, treasure hunters, or shipwreck salvors here in Florida. One of the problems pushing this agenda, here in Florida, and elsewhere in the difficult to fathom American archaeological universe, is that Archaeology funding is drying up and they now spend more time behind a desk than in the field. And they are not happy!

And from this group there are numerous ongoing attempts to basically outlaw metal-detecting as a hobby. This is no means a fast process for them, but since we older Americans have been this route before, mostly with other sneaky and contentious issues in government and state, we can clearly see the shadows moving quite slowly and inexorably toward a hazy, but predefined goal, much better than the younger, faster moving crowd. Later there is an example, as John Howland aptly puts it, of the American archaeologists "sniffier view" of  citizen archaeologists. 

Now, I will say, some of the Archaeologists do have somewhat a point of contention, here in the U.S. of A. in regard to metal detectorists. No, really! I have seen with my own eyes, over the last half-century or more, certain Neanderthal types armed with metal detectors literally destroy, deface, and damage public and private property as well as loot archaeological sites. 

Neanderthal with a detector, if you had to ask.

This is pure ca-ca and most incidents of this sort can be traced back to those who, usually purely for profit, pass through the metal detecting hobby like bread passes through a duck...pretty quick, and not very concerned. Unlike golf, we don't have a big, grassy field, or a detecting caddy to carry our selection of coils with us and dig targets at our command (good idea though). We either have to procure a permit, get private permission, or hunt the beach. And be trained to cover our tracks as if we were never there! We do need to self-police and stop these people from sullying the hobby and leaving us in the crumbling ruins of our pastime.

However, the majority of detector operators here in the USA are concerned with doing the right thing, and, of late, you will see county historical societies asking local detecting club's help in recovering certain historical items before the next century's glass and steel are coldly poured over them for a few more hundred years. Detectorists asking museum curators for help to identify shallow-dug, locally historic finds, with the hobbyist donating their finds to the museum in return for the help. A good thing.

England has made fantastic strides in healing differences between detectorists and archaeologists, with their Portable Antiquities Scheme which has melded both groups into a winning team prompting the discovery of ancient history we would never have thought possible many years ago! Here in the Colonies though, citizens are losing metal detecting rights and freedoms faster than a cow heading into a meat-packing plant. Up until 2005, here in Florida, we had an "Isolated Finds" program, one that would let explorers, divers and detectorists report isolated finds and locations, and usually were allowed to keep the item, if it was not a rare find. Common recoveries, like maybe an arrowhead, or artifact like a bullet or musket ball...that sort of thing, were okay to find, record and report. The program came to a crashing halt (at the FDNR's request) because they touted it was a massive "failure!" 

One of the reasons State Archaeologists gave for this failure, and I'm not kidding...I'll wait for you to swallow that sip of Coca Cola first. It was because people were not reporting enough of their finds!!!!! So, how do you determine how many finds WERE made if they were NOT REPORTED??? Nuff said??? The ultimate article I found that had the academics reporting why the "Portable Antiquities Scheme" could NOT work in America! Luckily I have a portable blood pressure monitor on hand when I read this kind of academic hogwash with the attitude they spout it! Read below, then have a hot tea, WITH milk and sugar!

 http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/03/130306-finders-keepers-treasure-hunting-law-uk-us/

Recently it was proposed by Florida, that for $100, you could buy a Citizens Archaeological Permit good for a year, allowing you to make finds, record them and display them, donate them, but RECORD them and the location. Do you realize the extent historic items and artifacts would come to light, recorded and cataloged? Putting another 14,000, or 20,000 or 30,000 individuals in the field, instead of the 10 or 15 on-the-payroll state archaeologists would have been a boon to both history and the state's coffers. But, you know the drill, citizens have no advanced degree in properly digging stuff up, photographing and recording them, or making up what they were/or were for, so guess what the response was? Here it is...take an aspirin first:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/kristinakillgrove/2016/01/13/florida-archaeologists-condemn-proposed-citizen-archaeology-permit/#13d0988b58fc

 I love the sign: "...not even the shells!!!"

My main point is we here in the U.S. who love history and this hobby better get our wagons circled soon, as the academic attack over ownership of the world in situ is coming in the near future. Here in America, we metal detectorists should be united enough to push back! And it's not the arrows I'm so worried about...it's about getting arrested for picking one of em' up!