DetectingWales.com

eveyone no's that he hates us all big time and heres what he had to say about the hoard


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http://paul-the vexatious blogger with incredibly itchy underpants.blogspot.com/2009/09/huge-anglo-saxon-gold-hoard-found.html (http://paul-the vexatious blogger with incredibly itchy underpants.blogspot.com/2009/09/huge-anglo-saxon-gold-hoard-found.html)

Not even gonna read it RB, he does it for fun.

Its like this, if he was middle of the road and had no extreme views, then no one would read his blog. He knows his extreme views attract attention so he keeps providing his views.

Ever saw the simpsons halloween episode that had all the advertising boards come alive and terrorise the community of Springfield. The town then discovered if they actually  ignored the 'monsters' they would cease to exist.....well there you go, Ignore Master the vexatious blogger with incredibly itchy underpants and he'll soon disappear.

the one aspect of all this that concerns me, is the 5 day time lag before it was reported to the PAS. i would have thought that any reputable detectorist, would have logged the spot, and notified the authority on day 1 once the artefact had come out.
one must seriously question the lack of action over the  5 day period.

however, what is done is done. the find has been recovered, recorded and researched. it is a magnificent find. what i find very upsetting is the amount of emphasis placed on its financial value, by the press and detectorists alike.

this sends out a very irresponsible message - - that we are in this hobby to rape the land  and make money out of it. i would hope that no one on DW actually sells their stuff on fleabay or suchlike websites.

i would hope that the threads such as 'guess the value' etc, are removed in due course.

the true value of the finds and artefacts is in the research as to what the finds are, and who they belong to, and of course of what on earth was going on in that area. now that is the true value of the find

Unfortunately Alan, with such a huge media interest in this find and associated speculation of the valuation, a discussion about its value would always crop up in the detecting forums. Is it a bad thing that the value is being discussed, no I dont think it is. Having artifacts that are deemed as treasure, valued is an integral part of the Treasure law of this land. We cannot avoid this law and as such should not avoid speculating about  potential value of finds.

hi guys

i really do think the handling of the press questions has been badly thought out.no mention should have been made of the location, or finder. and any question as to financial value should have been deflected to 'lets wait for the valuation committe decision'

i personally feel that trying to place financial value on a find that has a greater archaeological importance actually devalues the role of detectorists. it gives off the impression that we are only in the hobby for the money.

but the press have their own agenda. they only ever report the 2 extremes of detectiong - -hordes or unexploded bombs. nothing in between rarely gets national coverage. hence the biased public perception that its an easy route to buy a detector, go on land and find a horde.

this 'belief' increases the possibility of nighthawks - and further irresponsible reporting on our hobby

Yip If you're a non detectorist you'd be of the opinion that every detectorists weekend involves being blown through the air by a bomb whilsts hanging onto several gold hoards wearing a ski mask  ;)

hi millsy -- thanks for your input. i hope more and more newcomers actually realise their responsibilities and how to report the finds.

it really is not a case of 'finders keepers' - the landowner has given you permission to search the land, but did he/she actually give permission to keep the finds?

rob -- there must be a lot of detectorists flying high, !!

For goodness sake Alan, get off your high horse and take a chill pill.
No damage was done by the bloke in taking 5 days to report it , you have 2 weeks anyway.
The guess the value is for fun and nothing more.
If you found it would you donate it to the nation knowing that it is high value?
Without that detectorist it may never have been found, chewed up by the plough, who knows!
Whether it was 5 days or 5 hours it doesn't make any difference, the arkies got in there and had their day and their fun.
Archaeologists don't do anything for nothing , they are paid, detectorists spend out millions of pounds a year and get nothing back other than the pleasure of the hobby. Maybe you haven't thought about all the time and money that will be ploughed in to people world wide sponsored by governments. Archaeologists will make money out of it too!

THE GUY STAYED 5 SAYS BEFORE HE DECLAIRED IT ???   I THINK I WOULD OF DONE THE SAME THO ,,, HOW LONG DO YOU ACTUALLY GET TO DECLAIRE A FIND  ????   I THOUGHT IT WAS 14 DAYS ???   IM PROB  WRONG THO ,,,, JUST  SAYING  IF IT IS   14 DAYS   HE HASENT ACTUALLY BROKE THE LAW ,,,, OR  HAS HE   ??????

hi hedgehog

thx for your comment -- interesting reaction there. the real issue is realising from the 1st few artefacts that it was not an isolated find. after day 2 of finds, that should have sent out alarm bells that there was something special going on, and alerted the finder to their actual responsibilities.

however, what is done is done. my key points are in paras 2, 3 and 5 of my first post.

cheers

alan

And my point includes  paragraph 4 of your first post so you will get an interesting reaction when you criticise other's posts.
It is an interesting find, the fact that it was close to the surface would suggest that it was never buried, whatever the archaeologists come up with I think I can pre-empt without even seeing the site.
The fact there is so much there and nobody returned to pick it up leads it in a certain direction. They are the spoils of battle, someone may have taken the lot, hid it quickly didn't have time to bury it , they never returned for it, that would suggest they were caught, don't own up they die, own up they die! So it has lain there gradually covered by vegetation until that guy walked over it. Great news for detecting, great news for archaeology.

hi hedgehog.

the beauty of discussion forums is that everyone holds similar but slightly different points of view. Discussion and debate can only enhance the quality of understanding, giving us all an opportunity to think about our own views.

para 4,  is a view that i personally hold. The site mods obviously hold a different view as your thread still stands. I made that comment for others who read this discussion, to think about the wider implications and develop their own position, in due course.

from the rest of your post, i agree with your comments to a point, as there is a fair degree of sound and astute speculation. [as are most archaeological reports!].

happy hunting,

well if it was me i would have reported it from day one, but thats me though,whats that guy going on about, you have 14 days to report it after all, and at least he DID.
he didn't take everything from the ground as he said either, a lot was still there for them to excavate themselves,   http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/sep/24/staffordshire-anglo-saxon-gold-find (http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/sep/24/staffordshire-anglo-saxon-gold-find)
a lot of these arquies believe that all thats in the soil belongs to them and they just hate us comming along and finding it, stepping on their toes, doing them out of the glory.
 as what was said, a lot of this stuff would never have been found if it wasn't for us, denying them the chance to see it and work on it in their lifetime, they should be thanking us,

Hi Al

" lot of these arquies believe that all thats in the soil belongs to them"

i have several colleagues doing various Archy courses at uni and they all report that the lecturers promote the negative aspect of metal detecting and how future  archies should not entertain working with these 'treasure hunters'.

it may be worth trying to get a group of like minded people to visit such universities and deliver a session on the alternative view, of how detectorists can actually enhance understanding of sites.

our local archy is now asking us to hand in all pieces of worked lead found on known roman sites, for his recording purposes [it will be returned]. in due course he will be asking us for other items [which we have recorded with PAS]. 

there are some brave new archies out there who will seek out our expertise and advice, but we still have to overcome their inherent suspicion of our motives for the hobby.

this site is a superb report on who did what, when, timescale etc. well worth a read

http://www.staffordshirehoard.org.uk/team/ (http://www.staffordshirehoard.org.uk/team/)

happy hunting

We all should realise our responsibiliies  ;D

If you start to detect serious gold, you should stop imediately and contact the nearest flo,

You are supposed to get a bigger payout if the arkies take over !

All this love hate bickering between  tector and arkies across all forums doesnt
do anyone any favours.

There are faults on both sides, its good news that at least in some areas of uk the arkies are working with detectorists, and that will help towards maintaining a future for the hobby.

I for one keep in touch with a museum and submit finds approx every 2-months. as i know other clubs do.

What got me about most of the media response to this unique find, the media did not stress its rarity, for the the majority its buttons and buckles and an occasional silver groat, which is far from boring. Nor did they stress the mportance of gaining permission.

There is a u.tube video out that portrays the arkies digging this gold in a very slapstick fashion, which is an example of media crass that will damage both sides

i have several colleagues doing various Archy courses at uni and they all report that the lecturers promote the negative aspect of metal detecting and how future  archies should not entertain working with these 'treasure hunters'.

Interesting statement that H.M so basically student archaes are having this negativity instilled into them from the beginning, and are not being allowed to derive their own conclusions on the subject of metal detecting.

What do you think is the way forward? We do seem to be up against it dont we?

in some uni's the lecturing staff have been there for 30yrs or more and therefore their perception hasn't changed over the time. in other uni's  lecturers are embracing the partnership working and encouraging their students to consider using local expertise to assist their research projects.

when i talk to archy students on our local digs, they are all amazed how detectorists, volunteers and pd staff work together in harmony to help the research projects. often commenting on 'the negative portrayal of detectorists'. i can fully understand this perception as in some areas of the uk, nighthawking is rife [e.g.read comments on wantage rally!].

however, there is a balance to be had. our club, is trusted to go out and find sites, record the finds and then make sure the archy is informed  of discoveries, [after PAS].
the way fwd i'm happy to debate - will give it some thought over nxt few days.

YES A TOTALLY AGREE  AL   THE ARCHYS SHOULD BE THANKING US ,,,, AFTER ALL  ,,, IF IT WASENT FOR  US  THEY WIULD NOT HAVE HALF THE SITES THEY HAVE  ,,,, EXAMPLE IS THE HOARD  OF GOLD ,,,, IF IT WERE NOT FOR A DETECTORIST FINDING IT IN THE FIRST PLACE ,,, IT  WOULD STILL BE THERE IN THE DIRT ,,,, I THINK THE ARCHYS  SEEM TO THINK WE ARE ALL THEIVING NIGHTHAWKERS  AND  AS SUCH ,,,,, TAR EVERYONE WITH THE SAME BRUSH ,,,,, THEY DONT SEEM TO GRASP THE POINT THAT    A VAST MAJORITY OF FINDS ARE HANDED IN FOR THEM TO OBSERVE AND THAT THERE ARE ONLY A HANDFULL OF NIGHTHAWKERS THAT SPOIL THE GOOD NAME  FOR THE REST OF US   >:( >:(

i think its unfair for them to teach these newbie arkis this .i think the only way past this and to change there opinion is to invite them along to a rally to show them that all  members of dw are not just after whats there but the history to and maybe get them involved in some id ing process

yeah i'm with you Digga boy,  there are the bad eggs in every hobby and job ect,  its a darn pitty weve all got to be tared with the same brush  by the few perhaps old school arquies  that won't change their views with the times, and appreciate what the rest of us do for them,   free of charge too,
  dam,  all  that gold could have been cut to shreds soon by the plough or other machinary mate.
 and to teach the young upcoming arkies that we are bad and have nothing to do with us is realy realy bad too,
Alan