Human bone or not.

[celticspikey]

I have been waiting for a medieval field to dry out a bit after all the rain we recently had and today decided to pay a visit to see if it was detectable the field had been ploughed and seeded a couple of weeks ago although the farmer has been unable to roll it due to the wet, incidentally this field is just the other side of the road and river were I reported on in Medieval part 1-7. On arrival as can be seen from picture it was a bit chilly but luckily the ground was frozen and stopped the mud sticking to my boots nothing very special in the metallic finds came to light apart from in the picture shown, however one signal which was on higher ground and I have always imagined would be an ideal place for a burial ground and given that  I have had Saxon in the field it always draws me to searching this area, I had dug down  about 20” so it  warmed me up a little as you can imagine however as can be seen apart from the two large pieces of lead I dug out of the hole bone was also appearing I would be interested on any ones opinion as to whether it could be human in which case would clearly warrant a further investigation it could of course just be animal bone any thoughts!!!. Oh and yes I really did think I was on to a hoard it was just one of them deep signals that gets louder and louder the deeper you dig…..ma be next time then.

[Val Beechey]

Hi Spikey

I don't know a lot about human bones but was browsing for info.  I found this interesting, have a look. There are a few other, more medical, sites on line that may help you but I think you 'could' have human bone there.

 http://www.rodcollins.com/wordpress/how-to-identify-human-bones-have-i-found-one

Val

[archie]

last pic - centre, right side. could be part of a shin bone, although it is difficult to tell as they are smashed up (quite recently from the looks) maybe the police would be your best bet. the honeycomb inside the bone looks as if it may not have much age to it

[Spooyt Vane]

Human bone contained in an ancient burial has a brown coating unless its cremated bone..I have been invovled in digging early christian burials as part of rescue digs in the past and most human bone is in a poor crumbling condition in my area...But i suggest you have it checked out and might be just be a dog burial ..but who knows Rob

[relichunting]

If you decide to report it, your have the archaeologists in to do a test dig evaluation.

If it turns out to be a burial site you can kiss good bye to ever detecting there again as it will be scheduled

[Chef Geoff]

Shaun that is so fantasy island mate. There is no way on gods earth that a grave would attract scheduling, I have a whole Romano-British burial ground on one site which isn't scheduled. Generally sites are only scheduled if they have some standing walls (rather than just a floor layer) or have a unique quality ie mosaic etc.

And aren't we in this for the history? if your worried about reporting history then what's your motivation for being in the hobby??

[Chef Geoff]

As Rob has suggested Paul, your best bet would be to show it to an FLO, though they would probably need to show it to an "expert" as bones are notoriously difficult to id without specialised training.

[relichunting]

If you decide to report it was my exact words Geoff I was not advising him not to,just warning the chap of the possible out come


If there is a cemetery and a settlement on the same field the field would be scheduled end of story


You then have an issue of archaeologists coming on to the farmers land disrupting there daily farming activities,this alone would make farmers think twice at allowing you back on there land.


I am all for reporting treasure finds,but there is no way I would lead an archaeologist to any of my sites,and your living in a  fantasy world if you think any different, because I would estimate that only a few % in the hobby would be so stupid to.

I am in the hobby for many reasons

I love detecting, it gets me out of the house an gives me some exercise

I have a keen interest in ancient artefacts and coins

I am not in the hobby for money like 60% + ? of the detectorist in this country

I rarely sell any of my finds unless I have duplicates,or the coin is a common type, and need some cash to buy a new detector  

[Chef Geoff]

I'm sorry but your showing a clear case of "a little knowledge is dangerous" not settlement sites nor burial grounds are scheduled as a norm. Nor do Archaeologists come and dig up graves unless there is a danger to them, also when excavations take place it's with the permission of the land owner and not against their will.

[relichunting]

Geoff I am aware that archaeologists require the land owners permission to carry out any archeological digs on there property.

But if they go on there and find a massive ancient settlement or Town, the site would them be scheduled pretty quick

Even when sites are not scheduled you then have the night hawking community taking an interest in the land concerned,the end result would be the farmer would not want the hassle, and not give his permission for anyone to detect his land again.

There are hundreds of scheduled settlement sites around the country many of them have bank and ditches surrounding them

Hill forts were often used as settlement sites (fortified settlement)

Oh and I studied archaeology to an o level standard so yes I do have a passion for history

But I would never give the exact location of a find to a FLO officer, because your then giving an open information to any one to access the information and try and get on your sites.
    
Its the same with the sites you have worked so hard at getting permission for

If you report anything of interest, and archeological excavations are carried out,the information is then out there for any one to access and these people then think to them self's wow that seems a good place to go metal detecting.

Sorry but some of us work very hard for what good sites we have, I would not risk losing them or having every Tom Dick and Harry turning up to detect on them

[Chef Geoff]

OK Last time lol
First your argument is fatally flawed.....You say that you wouldn't report it on the basis of it being reported and thus (in your head) scheduled, when this has happened it would attract Nighthawks which would ultimately lead to you loosing permission as the land owner would get fed up
OK anybody noticed the problem with this argument?
If the site is scheduled then you wouldn't be allowed to detect on it regardless of the land owner.

Hill forts and enclosures are standing remains and so are scheduled and there is very little chance of a metal detectorist being the first to report standing remains.

How is "any one" going to know the location of your find if you tell the FLO? have you actually recorded? location information isn't available to the general public.
And lastly I really can't understand how you can say you have a passion for history and then suggest that if you found a "town" you would keep it to yourself, sites of that quality and wayyyyyyyyyy outside your, mine or most peoples scope of competence and the damage you would do in ripping finds out of context would be criminal.

[relichunting]

First your argument is fatally flawed.....You say that you wouldn't report it on the basis of it being reported and thus (in your head) scheduled, when this has happened it would attract Nighthawks which would ultimately lead to you loosing permission as the land owner would get fed up
OK anybody noticed the problem with this argument?

Your hard work Geoff

My last word on this  
 
You need to read an understand what i said

Even when sites are not scheduled you then have the night hawking community taking an interest in the land concerned,the end result would be the farmer would not want the hassle, and not give his permission for anyone to detect his land again.

It does not matter if the site is then scheduled or not scheduled.

If an archeological excavation is carried out there is then a record of this,which is available to anyone who wishes to find it.

So if your site is not scheduled there is still a record of any archeological work been carried out, people then can use this to go and detect on your land

Of course if its scheduled you will not be able to go on it again my point in the first place

It will not stop the night hawkers though and further damage to are hobby

If I found a site with a Saxon town on it of course I would keep it to myself as would 70% of people in the hobby would. you have already stated that sites of this importance would be scheduled and you would not be able to detect on it ever again.

Stop dreaming Geoff most people who detect guard there sites. and are extremely secretive to were they detect

How is "any one" going to know the location of your find if you tell the FLO? have you actually recorded? location information isn't available to the general public.

You sure about that? there are sites you can go on and it gives details of the find and the location found.

I found a Roman silver ring bezel, it was reported under the treasure act,in fact it was the first case in Wiltshire

It was found in Corsham Wiltshire and the formation was freely available in the Wiltshire archaeological magazines at the time it can also be found on the Internet

It was declared treasure myself and the farmer received the princely sum of £50

We then had people detecting there with out permission 

[Val Beechey]

For £25.00 you can get the exact location of thousands of finds and sites in the U.K

BUT, much to my surprise, after mentioning that site to a Dyfed Archie. the reponse was that these people really annoyed them because they charged for information that was free from Dyfed.

Go figure !!!!!

Val

[relichunting]

Thank you Val 

[TheLoveDoc]

I think the farmer or land owner should decide . I would like to report any find of  historical importance but would not want to do anything without the consent of the land owner.

People say to me all the time " is it worth anything " ...or ...."if I found it i would'nt tell anyone and sell it" . My reply is always "who are you going to sell it to ?" If you found a gold saxon hoard im betting you would report it for the reward. A burial site would be far more interesting to me though but only with the help of the pros could it be investigated properly and im sure they would'nt mind the finder helping out. It may even open a few doors as far as helping on other sites ya never know......