Other Approaches

The United Kingdom has a whole series of approaches to artefact hunting and collecting. England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, the isle of man and the Channel Islands all have different systems for dealing with "Treasure" and Portable Antiquities. There is no reason why Wales has to continue to accept the imposed English model.

In Northern Ireland is a system related to that of the Republic of Ireland, where searching is undertaken legally when the artefact hunter has a permit for that project. This is the sort of system used on the Continent, where any interference with the archaeological record is done with prior authorisation of the relevant bodies which have the power to grant such permits (or refuse them if the proposed project would have a negative effect on the historic heritage). The devolved government of Wales could adopt such a system to curb the unrecorded damage caused to historic sites in the country by unsupervised and irresponsible "metal detectorists". Being caught using a metal detector on a site without a permit would remove any of the ambiguity currently associated with illegal metal detector use which exists in England.

The devolved government of Wales could adopt a solution like that in Scotland. There the definition of "Treasure" is much broader, allowing a much greater variety of archaeological material found by non-archaeologists to enter public collections for the common good. Again reporting of such material is obligatory, with legal sanctions which can be used against those who do not comply or surrender material.

The faults of the English system were starkly revealed last year by the case of the Roman cavalry helmet found at Crosby Garrett, Cumbria which did not fall in the category of "Treasure" and was sold by its treasure hunting finders at Christie's to an anonymous private collector for 2.3 million pounds and is lost to the nation. The Welsh government can avoid such a situation by redefining Treasure together with the principles of rewarding finders.

It's Time for a Rethink of Policy on Artefact Hunting in Wales: Na i PAS ar gyfer Cymru

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The Welsh "metal detectorist" calling himself just "Neil" ("Administrator, Superhero Member") announced after the "Detecting Wales" thread concerning the silencing of a certain heritage blogger had for a while been filling with self-gratulatory posts expressing the obvious feeling of entitlement of their authors and showing full acquiescence to the stifling of debate on portable heritage issues in great Britain:

I am going to lock the thread now mate just to ensure there are no repercussions.

The repercussions are that people seeing the Welsh reaction to list-member Avalon's announcement that he has "put an end to Paul Barford and his anti detecting blogs" will start to look just why it is that Welsh "metal detectorists" want to see a blog discussing portable antiquity collecting issues in a wider context out of public sight.

The repercussions are that their reaction to the news might be to want to look a bit more closely over their shoulders at just what it is they are doing out there on the green pasturelands and ploughed archaeological sites of Wales and adjacent areas.

The public who see that thread and then this blog might well want to ask why it is the Welsh taxpayer is now going to be asked by supporters of artefact hunting to fork out huge amounts of money mainly to service the exploitive and erosive hobby of a minority instead of discussing other ways of dealing with the problem. This money could be better spent elsewhere.

The repercussions are that it has become clear that we can no longer afford to continue the bold social integration experiment begun by a New Labour government in 1997 without any public discussion of its effects on and implications for the preservation of the archaeological record of the British Isles. Especially when any attempts to draw attention to its defects are met with aggression, threats, disruptive behaviour by so-called "metal detectorists" in the UK and total silence from the one organization set up nearly a decade and a half ago to be archaeology's voice on portable antiquities issues.

Now that devolving Wales has been cut off from the direct influence of artefact hunting's "partners" in Bloomsbury, perhaps it is time for the Welsh to find a more effective means of dealing with Britain's increasing problem with the plundering of the archaeological record for collectables by a small, selfish and largely anti-social minority.

Now, with devolution, it is surely the time to stop the pretence and take decisive action against a few hundred selfish despoilers threatening the fragile and finite archaeological record of Wales.