6th December 2005, 11:25 AM
This thread demonstrates whats great and good about BAJR. I dont want to throw you a curve ball but I would be genuinely interested in your views on a situation I have on my patch.
We have a 3.5 acre field which is known to contain an Anglo Saxon cemetary. The burials were first encountered in the 19th century. In the last five years the site has been a mecca for detectorists, in the last 6 months it has produced 120 reported finds through the PAS scheme, all anglo saxon, many of them treasure items. Now it seems to me that the site should be protected. EH are will not schedule it, the farmer wants to continue cultivating it and the MD's are delighted to keep on going back, they visit the site 4 times a week at the moment. My point is the detectorists are not destroying the site, the system is; but should detectorists take advantage of that? What should I do as a curator?
We have a 3.5 acre field which is known to contain an Anglo Saxon cemetary. The burials were first encountered in the 19th century. In the last five years the site has been a mecca for detectorists, in the last 6 months it has produced 120 reported finds through the PAS scheme, all anglo saxon, many of them treasure items. Now it seems to me that the site should be protected. EH are will not schedule it, the farmer wants to continue cultivating it and the MD's are delighted to keep on going back, they visit the site 4 times a week at the moment. My point is the detectorists are not destroying the site, the system is; but should detectorists take advantage of that? What should I do as a curator?