28th August 2006, 01:17 PM
Happy to provide Tom with more info, though the first thing to get clear is that the recording and the rally, although obviously linked, are not the same. The rally happens regardless; I am arranging the recording precisely because the rally is already happening, not to enable, justify, condone or condemn it, but to record data that could otherwise be lost.
The rally itself is being organised by Christopher Bourne-Arton (the landowner and member of North Yorkshire County Council's Thornborough Henges Project Steering Group) and Norman Smith (a detectorist who has organised a number of rallies in the area). I would expect around 3-400 people will attend from all over the UK (with a handful from abroad), mostly but not all detecting themselves; it is also a social occasion so some will bring their families, and various metal detecting related retailers will probably also be there. The detectorists will be free to detect all the land the landowner makes available, apart from any scheduled areas which will be cordoned off. There is no structure to where they search, other than that the organisers open fields in a phased way.
This is all legitimate and the only legal requirement to record/report anything is for items which may be classified as Treasure under the 1996 Treasure Act. However the organisers have also invited the local representatives of the Portable Antiquities Scheme to attend and organise recording, and will strongly encourage recording at the rally and support the recording through provision of equipment. Therefore the 2 local Finds Liaison Officers will be there, supported by maybe half a dozen volunteers (students, members of local community archaeology groups, and of course David and anyone else from this forum who wants to help).
We will try and record everything pre-1700 that we see (PAS's usual policy unless there is a specific research project we know about, eg Russian bag seals), and the more support we have the better the standard of those records will be, and the more we are likely to see in the first place (finders get discouraged from reporting when they have to queue for ages to see us). The basic record will include an identification of the object, physical description, physical measurements, digital images, and 6 figure NGR findspot (10 figure if the finder has GPS). When we get time afterwards this will all be uploaded onto the PAS national database, and from there to the North Yorkshire HER, and also to specific research projects (eg VASLE).
Recording is voluntary but from past experience most, though by no means all, rally participants will show us their finds, though most of these will be non-recordable in PAS terms (post-1700). I would expect we will still record some 200 or more individual finds from all periods (pre-1700). We will also be advising finders on conservation issues, the importance of recording, and how to record (many finders will never have recorded a find before), as well as trying to put people's individual finds into a wider context.
I hope this helps people understand what is happening, get in touch if I can help further, or if you want to help at the rally.
Dave
PAS North & East Yorkshire
The rally itself is being organised by Christopher Bourne-Arton (the landowner and member of North Yorkshire County Council's Thornborough Henges Project Steering Group) and Norman Smith (a detectorist who has organised a number of rallies in the area). I would expect around 3-400 people will attend from all over the UK (with a handful from abroad), mostly but not all detecting themselves; it is also a social occasion so some will bring their families, and various metal detecting related retailers will probably also be there. The detectorists will be free to detect all the land the landowner makes available, apart from any scheduled areas which will be cordoned off. There is no structure to where they search, other than that the organisers open fields in a phased way.
This is all legitimate and the only legal requirement to record/report anything is for items which may be classified as Treasure under the 1996 Treasure Act. However the organisers have also invited the local representatives of the Portable Antiquities Scheme to attend and organise recording, and will strongly encourage recording at the rally and support the recording through provision of equipment. Therefore the 2 local Finds Liaison Officers will be there, supported by maybe half a dozen volunteers (students, members of local community archaeology groups, and of course David and anyone else from this forum who wants to help).
We will try and record everything pre-1700 that we see (PAS's usual policy unless there is a specific research project we know about, eg Russian bag seals), and the more support we have the better the standard of those records will be, and the more we are likely to see in the first place (finders get discouraged from reporting when they have to queue for ages to see us). The basic record will include an identification of the object, physical description, physical measurements, digital images, and 6 figure NGR findspot (10 figure if the finder has GPS). When we get time afterwards this will all be uploaded onto the PAS national database, and from there to the North Yorkshire HER, and also to specific research projects (eg VASLE).
Recording is voluntary but from past experience most, though by no means all, rally participants will show us their finds, though most of these will be non-recordable in PAS terms (post-1700). I would expect we will still record some 200 or more individual finds from all periods (pre-1700). We will also be advising finders on conservation issues, the importance of recording, and how to record (many finders will never have recorded a find before), as well as trying to put people's individual finds into a wider context.
I hope this helps people understand what is happening, get in touch if I can help further, or if you want to help at the rally.
Dave
PAS North & East Yorkshire