2nd February 2012, 06:21 PM
geo Wrote:Mmmm, shall we also seek to ban invasive agricultural techniques in case they damage those precious things and then what about development archaeological briefs which only allocate a maximum of 10 % excavation of some features ? Should we ban that as well and go for 100 % excavation from the grass roots down and then what about those areas in a development that are not the subject of archaeological evaluation ?
Lets get back to the real world and stop ranting on its getting boring.
Don't be ridiculous. Obviously you can't ban those things, nor would I advocate that level of over reach. You can, however, take measures to combat the antiquities market that fuels desire for metal detectorists, first by banning the sale of metal detectors. That's my point and the cultural benefits for such a law far outweigh the costs. There are other ways to have a family outing.
And yes, I do believe archaeological / historical material is precious as there is only so much of it - I get the sense that we might view archaeological material differently.