21st December 2005, 03:16 PM
Quote:quote:and recorded in plan obviously
If they were only removed from the topsoil context and were all recorded in plan and all that data with full NGRs was sent to the SMR and the finds themselves were in the public domain (published on someone's website for example, not necessarily in a museum)...
...then I suspect this debate would not exist.
However I would guess that only a small proportion of metal-detecting expeditions do all of the above. As others have pointed out here, many finds are not removed from topsoil contexts but are from grave fills and other features.
Quote:quote:To clarify, I am of course referring solely to those with academic or research intent, not those seeking artefacts for sale, collection or curiousity
This is a red herring. I have known university-based academic archaeological expeditions produce poor data and lose the finds in bulldozed warehouses. I have known amateur antiquarians produce high quality work which is quickly published. It is the means which matters, not the end in this case.