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+--- Thread: York (/showthread.php?tid=1953)
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York - Troll - 11th July 2005
Mate of mine works and lives in Eboracum and since I`ve been an invading southern git for a year now, have been lucky enough to visit and be shown around the sexy city. One thing that does disturb me about York (apart from women in ridiculous headgear during the racing)is the sheer amount of archaeology for sale in the shops. How does this happen? I spend my working life shovelling the proverbial and find one Roman coin in 8 years, go to York and I can buy a bag of the buggars for ?20! Not just coins but statues/whole pots/metal work and just about anything else. I once came across a similar shop in Chichester where whole beakers were on offer too. Wos goin on?????????
My life, what I`d give to dig in York....and London for that matter but sadly, apparently we can all afford to pay our own rent...
York - Beardstroker - 11th July 2005
Troll, the one in Chichester has now closed (or possibly moved elsewhere) thank God.
Didn't realise York was so bad though. Last time I was there it was full of very expensive,Past Time's stylee shops flogging overpriced rubbish to grockles(or whatever they call them in Yorkshire.
York - Curator Kid - 11th July 2005
Doesn't the fact that you can buy (Presumably legible) Bulk Roman coins, whole pots, saleable metalwork and statues say something to you though? Like you say, this stuff is not that common in the UK, - because nearly everything dug up over here is broken or corroded or just knackered! Most of this stuff seems to get shipped over from the Middle East, where it's pretty commonplace, and on sale all over the place in shops and markets for peanuts (or less). There are a few of these shops in London and the provenance of most of the objects is displayed, so you can see where they come from (there's one opposite the British Museum). I've been to antiquities and coin fairs in London where this stuff is on sale too, and not a lot of it is home-grown. There are a few of metal detectorists flogging finds, but most of their objects are provenanced as well - people largely appear to have got the idea of an object being worthless if you don't know where it comes from. Not that I wish to condone the trade in antiquities from abroard, but this industry appears to be pretty legit and it's rare to hear of any legal action being taken, although I always have the nagging suspicion that at the sharp end of the trade are sites getting looted by locals for pennies. I wouldn't worry about wanting to dig in London to get juicy finds either. I dug there for a few years and it's got just as many broken tiles and smashed pots as anywhere else!
York - monitor lizard - 11th July 2005
Not just the Middle East. The majority of the bulk Roman coin lots you will find at these sort of fairs are coming in from Eastern Europe. Think Bulgaria and that neck of the woods.
You may find the antiquities trade unsavory, but the 'legality' is a different issue. But people will also buy pretty much anything. A few years back, I remember some enterprising fellow selling '3 Authentic Roman Nails' mounted on a piece of mdf as a plaque. For a tenner. Now, what distinguishes a Roman nail from any other pre-modern nail? And why on earth would you want this hanging from your wall? I've also recieved 'free' Roman coins (4th century debitage) with magazine subscriptions....
ML
York - vulpes - 11th July 2005
Presumably used and endorsed by Christ...
York - Curator Kid - 11th July 2005
Maybe one was supposed to nail the piece of MDF to the wall with the nails?
York - mercenary - 11th July 2005
Regarding York: I took it as a good sign that the biggest "stolen antiquity" shop moved to smaller premises last year. A lot of the stuff they sell is definitely of UK origin, but from all over.
I once got thrown out of said shop for questioning the provenance of a lovely assemblage of struck flint with catalogue numbers inked on. Do museums ever sell their finds?
As for York digging, it's a bit rubbish these days unless you like digging pile positions. (less than 5% and they don't get dug at all!)Much like London in fact, without the big area excavations that used to happen occasionally there. On the other hand the hinterland is very very good. My favourite place to dig these days is Beverley. Lovely deep med strat, a lot of which is waterlogged, and without the crazy archaeological mitigations of York.
York - eggbasket - 11th July 2005
Quote:quote:Originally posted by mercenary
My favourite place to dig these days is Beverley. Lovely deep med strat, a lot of which is waterlogged, and without the crazy archaeological mitigations of York.
Yeah, but that excavation is usually in advance of some development that is aimed at destroying the town's character even further. Witness the travesty that was the excavation on the Tossco's site. Destroy the town's historic cattle market, which was as much a place for a family outing to see the lovely animals (don't tell the kids where the animals are going next) as it was a business. It was a part of the town's history and the council mucked it up, just as they seem intent on mucking up the playhouse and the memorial hall. The political manoeuvring on these projects and all that make me very angry. It was very much a case of running the playhouse down so that it would not be worth doing up, instead of doing the remediation works back when they were affordable. And as for their plan to turn Saturday Market into a mediterranean style piazza ... BAH!
IMO ERYC suck weasels. Now I would like to get them on the ice and show them what for. And all you get when you turn up at the public meetings and planning meetings are snide comments from the councillors. Bet it would be different if they actually lived in the town.Cheers,
Angry Eggbasket
Eggy by name, eggy by nature
York - Curator Kid - 13th July 2005
Quote:quote:Originally posted by eggbasket
And all you get when you turn up at the public meetings and planning meetings are snide comments from the councillors. Bet it would be different if they actually lived in the town.
Sounds just like where I live. Council policy appears to be something along the lines of: "Stuff our own Local Plan and the rules - we like the development idea and the residents are just a bunch of nimbys who aren't as clever as we are" Goodbye local character and heritage assets - hello concrete, glass and chrome! However, you're doing the right thing by going to those meetings even if you're not having much success at the moment - it's those people that need constant reminding about heritage and archaeology, and they're usually invisible once they've been elected.
York - BAJR Host - 13th July 2005
Blimey... it must be the season for it...
Historic Scotland are asked to comment on the demolition of a historic building... the day after teh site is passed by teh planning department.. even though it is contrary to the local plan and local protests..
Fight on!!!B)
Another day another WSI?