"Our national policy concentrates on the motive behind the use of
metal detectors. We think the motive to search for treasure, for
personal gain or private collecting in the absence of reporting is socially
irresponsible. However, metal detectorists who act responsibly
and observe the disciplines of archaeology are welcome companions in the
study of our past-if you think that fits you, why not join us?"
This ‘honey trap’ reads very well until you take it
apart! Treasure hunting is an honest desire in all people,
always has been and always will be. If you look for a
bargain in a local paper, if an archaeologist seeks a to dig a Roman
Villa site, rather than to excavate a Victorian workshop, if you want a
better hi-fi system, you are Treasure Hunter, so how dare they condemn
Treasure hunting.
Private collecting has always been the best way to
care for antiquities, it has always produced the best research and publication,
without it there would be no museums:- Nearly every museum
in the world has been based on private collections donated to them and
that includes the British museum. How dare they condemn private
collection!
In the absence of reporting, why do they
want everything reported, when they know this is unscientific and would
lead to a totally wrong map of the past:- The simple answer
is to add metal detecting finds to Aerial photography, historical rumour
and Victorian Fieldwalking, so that they can gain control of the land,
schedule what they can get away with and blackmail landowners into paying
their inflated wages on change of use for the rest. Any amateur
archaeologist or seasoned detectorist, can tell which fields have been
capped with rubbish that came from elsewhere, and you do not need to be
a genius to know that most detecting finds were accidental losses.
Finally they invite you to join them in the study
of our past, how can you join them, unless you have the right University
qualifications? And if you did, there are thousands of so called
'qualified archaeologists' either doing other jobs or on Social Security,
it’s not a ‘sunrise industry’. This is not what they mean,
they mean join them in the way they took amateur archaeology to their Marxist
collectivist trap, those people who once spent happy Sundays Fieldwalking,
or conducting their own digs, are now just a captive audience to pay for
the boring and often repeated lectures of the so called ‘professionals’!
THEY REALLY MEAN, They welcome serfs who will
point their way to TREASURE!
A letter from Texas Historical Commission to Michael J.Davidson
To be issued a permit for the excavation of archaeological sites in Texas you must be a qualified professional archaeologist, and all artifacts recovered from any excavations are the property of the State of Texas or one of it's political subdivisions, depending on where the artifacts were recovered from. Additionally, all artifacts must be curated in a publicly owned museum or other repository, and no State agency or political subdivision of the State can sell or transfer ownership of artifacts recovered without the express consent of the Texas Historical Commission. Objects or artifacts less than fifty years old not would fall under the jurisdiction of the Antiquities Code, but if they were buried in the ground they might still belong to the public agency in which they were buried, and again, if you had to dig into the ground to remove them you would have to have a permit to do so.
Dear Mr Davidson,