PAS alert!

[BAJR Host]

Think on this thought provoking post!

Comments?

I believe the issue of compulsory recording and/or an outright ban really is too complex to examine in just a few hundred words. Since the hobby seems to be at some sort of (PAS induced) crisis point, perhaps it is time for a few home truths.

1. The hobby is not perfect. Although it enables ordinary citizens to discover history for themselves, sometimes, it is exploited by thieves and other unscrupulous individuals for personal gain. I would go so far as to say that very many hobbyists never share what they find with the landowner, let alone the government and as such, the 100% recording of finds will always be something that the hobby can only aspire to. There ARE other online avenues for recording open to detectorists and the 'finders keepers' ethos is something that most agree is an out-dated viewpoint. Metal detecting very often leaves the moral and legal obligations in the hands of the detectorist. Sadly, these obligations are subject to human nature and thereby are (in turn), subject to differing social values. There will always be hobbyists who choose not to record their finds and/or report potential treasure. That's life. But I would urge all those who hold those views to come forward and say their piece - it is their very silence that will destroy the hobby as we enjoy it today.

2. It's not all bad news. Metal detecting is without a doubt Britain's most effecient vehicle for archaeological discovery, the recovery of treasure AND Britain's first true 'Community Archaeology' project. Do you think we recieve commensurate credit for that from the professionals? Not a bit of it - to many of them, we are still an ill-disciplined army of treasure hunters out there for our own personal gain. But every time I see the faces of those viewing the Hoxne treasure in the BM, I know that honest British detectorists deserve to hold their heads high. Furthermore, you don't have to discover a national treasure to contribute positively to our common heritage. Among that army of ill-disciplined rogues are an increasing number of detectorists who contribute to very many archaeological projects. They selflessly search, dig and donate whatever they find to the project in question, often without any reward at all, aside from knowing that they have given far more than their spare time. Truly a model for us all.

Archaeological publications don't like to 'big-up' treasures of national importance that were discovered by hobbyists. In Mick Aston's recent article (in Britarch) regarding Anglo-Saxon archaeology in Suffolk, there is ample coverage of the formal archaeology of the region, but when it comes to Hoxne, he naturally mentions the fabulous pre-historic lithic finds associated with the village, but conveniently forgets to mention one of Britain's most famous treasures - discovered by a member of the public out looking for a farmer's hammer with a metal detector. I despise that pompous attitude in heritage professionals, but I have to say that even in the 21st century, it is still very much evident. As such, Mr. Aston declines to acknowledge the increasing role that amateurs will play in future archaeology. What a way to be remembered - looking exclusively backward.

3. The recent announcement of budgetary cuts to the Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) has caused an almost hysterical reaction from some quarters. Why? Because some have chosen to so closely associate themselves with the scheme that even a blip in the scheme's fortunes is enough to spark panic. How dreadful. As stated elsewhere - detectorists DO NOT require a government funded scheme to speak for them, neither do independent dectorists recognise the discredited 'council' that speaks for the hobby before government. In the 21st century, it is incumbent on all detectorists to come forward and make their voices heard. Let's see the good, the bad and the downright ugly. Those that express views unpalatable to the majority here should be made just as welcome. It is only through airing ALL views that we can honestly face our many critics.

"No job worth doing was ever done on time or under budget.."
Khufu

[BAJR Host]

http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/PAS-Funding/

Have you signed yet?

Make your voice heard... support a strong PAS.. An outreach organisation that we need...

"No job worth doing was ever done on time or under budget.."
Khufu

[Corinne Mills]

from todays Guardian by Lord Renfrew

One of the unsung successes of this government is the Portable Antiquities Scheme, which records archaeological objects found by members of the public and makes that information available for all on its online database. The scheme recently recorded its 300,000th find. But all that is now under threat, an unintended consequence of this year's comprehensive spending review by which the government fixes its funding for the next three years.

Although the spending review proved to be much better for museums and the heritage than was feared - a tribute to the negotiating ability of James Purnell, the new secretary of state - the Portable Antiquities Scheme comes under the aegis of the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council, the one organisation that was singled out for cuts in the spending review, as its grant is being reduced by 25% in real terms over the next three years.

Since it was created by Chris Smith seven years ago, MLA has had a chequered history. It has been through three changes of name and is now on its fourth chief executive, hardly a sign of a stable organisation. It has yet to convince the museums, libraries and archives, for which it was supposed to devise overarching policies, that it has a useful role. Its biggest programme is Renaissance in the Regions, which channels government money (£45m this year) into a network of 42 hub museums. The Renaissance programme was protected in this spending review.

However, the Portable Antiquities Scheme is left facing an uncertain future. The scheme, which is receiving £1.3m from MLA this year, is a unique operation. It is masterminded by a small headquarters team of five at the British Museum and then has six specialist finds advisers and a regional staff of 39 based in a mix of museums and county council archaeological departments all round the country, with even the odd university thrown in. Each of the 34 organisations that host these posts makes its own local contribution to the scheme. Not only is it extremely cost-effective - how many other national schemes are run for such a small amount of money? - but it works. The staff are young archaeologists who work all sorts of hours going out and making contact with the people - mainly metal detector users - who make the finds.

Metal detecting first became popular in the 1970s and, although many archaeologists are still uneasy about it, they have not succeeding in banning it and most now believe it is better to work with the detector users than ignore them. Certainly everyone can agree that the failure to record detectorists' finds on a systematic basis represents a huge
loss of information about our past. In Norfolk and Suffolk, where there has been a concerted effort to record detector-users' finds for over 30 years the addition to our knowledge has been vast. Over 30,000 finds a year are recorded from those two counties alone and this year the scheme will be recording over 70,000 finds in all.

Norfolk and Suffolk provided the model for the national Portable Antiquities Scheme, which started as a series of pilot schemes in 1997, at the same time as the Treasure Act passed through parliament. Thanks to the lottery the scheme achieved national coverage in 2003 and, three years later, when the lottery funding ended, the government agreed to pick up the bill.

The scheme is now starting to transform our understanding of many aspects of the past: for example our knowledge of iron age coins or of Viking age artefacts has been enormously enriched through the systematic recording of metal-detected finds over the last 30 years. A recent survey found that 17 PhDs and 30 other dissertations are using PAS data. The scheme has led to some very important archaeological discoveries, such as a very rare Viking age cemetery at Cumwhitton in Cumbria which came to light when a detector user reported two rare brooches to his local finds liaison officer, or a unique copper-alloy Roman bowl which bear the names of four forts on Hadrian's Wall and has now been jointly acquired by the British Museum, the Potteries Museum and Tullie House Museum in Carlisle.

The scheme has also taken the initiative in policing the internet for objects that should be reported under the Treasure Act and has promoted a code of practice (pdf) on responsible metal detecting which, for the first time, provides a clear set of guidelines on the responsible use of metal detectors which has been endorsed by all the relevant bodies, both metal detecting and archaeological. Such a thing could never have happened 10 years ago.

Those who supported the scheme were delighted by the decision of the government to fund the scheme in full in 2006 and they thought that its long-term future was assured. However, although it has continued to go from strength to strength, it seems that the scheme was forgotten by the government when it decided to slash MLA's budget, as
it failed to ring-fence the scheme's funding. Two weeks ago the culture minister Margaret Hodge launched the scheme's latest annual report at the British Museum, and at the same time the chief executive of MLA, Roy Clare, announced that MLA had agreed to continue funding the scheme for a further year at its current level, while reviewing its activities for the two years beyond that.

Now, though, it emerges that this announcement was rather less than it seemed, as Roy Clare told the scheme's advisory group last Wednesday that its grant would be frozen next year and this means that it will have to lose five of its 50 posts. Roy Clare has also stated that he thinks the scheme's long-term future lies in the Renaissance programme, where its supporters fear it will get swallowed up and lose its national focus, as the local officers will inevitably be drawn into Renaissance's various regional priorities.

It is now time for the culture department to step into this unhappy situation - its ministers have been more than happy to sing the praises of the scheme, which fits so well into its priorities of broadening public access to our heritage and these warm words were repeated by Margaret Hodge on her online blog this week. If MLA is unable to continue to protect and sustain the scheme then the department should ask an organisation that could provide the scheme with a safe home - and the obvious candidate is the British Museum, where its headquarters team is based and whose director, Neil MacGregor, has been one of its most eloquent supporters.

At the moment its 50 dedicated staff do not know whether they will still have a job after next March. If ever there was a frontline service such as this spending review was supposed to protect, this is it. It is ironic that this threat to its future should come just when the scheme is beginning to produce dividends in terms of research and has built up the trust of over 6,000 finders. All this could so easily be lost without adequate funding.

[BAJR Host]

It has been pointed out to me about a post on Britache ... where N. Swift looked with Daily Mail outrage at £24 per find for the PAS - and suggested that this was bad value for money... ... I am intrigued to know how much 'good' value for money is...

To know if it is good or bad... one must have a comparator... I notice that when challanged, he went on to suggest that 12 quid a find was even better.... (how very Thatcherite!) Taking into consideration, the recording, research, data input, office costs, wages, materials, travel, photography etc etc... it comes out at circa 1-1.5 hours per find... so not too bad... or am I wrong.... in the commercial world... where budgets are by neccesity tight... is £24 an artefact from finder to published good or bad? HELLLLLLLLLLLLP.

I feel there are areas that can be tightened in the PAS... but surely you make these adjustments after you look into them.... not before ( Good ol' Thatcherism again!)

"No job worth doing was ever done on time or under budget.."
Khufu

[historic building]

Ok at 1 per hour and an 8 hour day, so £192 per day not a high specialist cost at all. The FLOs are examining a wide range of finds and cannot simply limit themselves in the way a specialist can so they may well go a bit slower.

We could probably demand more experienced specialists do the main finds work or it is limited more by period/ region, but the FLO would not build a relationship with their constituency. This may be more efficient. Where would we get the specialists from?

[garybrun]

As posted on Britarch.

What surprises me on Britarch is the lack of comment on the subject of PAS.
I would have thought many of you would be voicing your opinions and supporting the heritage or do you just play lip service and like to give the perception that you are?
Are the so called “guardians of heritage” / archaeologists on this list afraid to put their heads above the parapet in case they perceive it to be shot off or it will effects your future career prospects.
The amount of debate that has gone on here about I would say rather more frivolous unrelated subjects... yet a very large and important part that is connected to the conservation of British heritage does not get discussed. Where are you all hiding... in your bunkers afraid of fall out.

While it is commonly known that I don’t always agree with the PAS leadership, I still believe they have a very important part to play in the “British Heritage” and deserve recognition and praise for what has been accomplished over the years.
Is it still the wall of “professional jealousy” that many of you are still all stiff lipped??Come on you lot... practise what you preach and make your opinions known instead of just cowering under your pillows.

I believe the review is a good thing and will help “stream line” the PAS and make it more efficient.
I do not think this is in anyway the demise of PAS as a few people are trying to preach, I also believe it will come out more stronger after it has had its review. While I understand that the leadership is fighting to save jobs and funding.... so are other sectors of government. It’s a public mandate to know what government money is being spent and were it is going. Mr Clare is doing what he has been charged to do and I don’t think its just a get at “PAS” situation. All sectors will come under review.

If money wasn’t wasted ie. £100,000,- on a “nighthawking survey” with about 50 responses on my last check. How much could have been done with that money in other areas? How many could honestly hold their hands up and say they could have put it to better use?? What could you have saved or restored for that money???

Mr Bland needs to take a re-think on what could have been achieved if his organisation was more open to criticism and worked together with other sectors within the heritage community and see that lessons could have been and can be learned on how to co-operate instead of trying to just be the “one and only PAS dynasty”

While the odd few are chuckling to themselves...maybe “saying I told you so”... I'm not one of them and don’t want to be a part of that band wagon and I will not be drawn into a debate on the rights and wrongs of metal detecting etc.
This is about PAS and its support.
I also hope that more of you will stand up and be counted.

Archaeologists.... the only army that turns on its wounded men.





Website for responsible Metal Detecting
http://www.ukdfd.co.uk
Recording Our Heritage For Future Generations.

[tom wilson]

quote:Originally posted by garybrun

As posted on Britarch.

Archaeologists.... the only army that turns on its wounded men.

Hmm. Gary, are you telling us that you've had a pop at the posters on Britarch, or are you having a pop at us too? The former would not be relevant here, while the latter would be out of order. What do you want us to do? Put up barricades around Westminster? I don't equate people chatting on a forum with effective action myself.

[garybrun]

I posted it on Britarch Tom but it hasn't been approved for viewing yet.
So has the Bajr forum only been just for chat... seems a lot of work for nothing if that is how its viewed.




Website for responsible Metal Detecting
http://www.ukdfd.co.uk
Recording Our Heritage For Future Generations.

[tom wilson]

I surmise from your last post that you did intend to insult this forum's users. Well thanks; that's about as charming as it is constructive to saving the PAS.

BAJR's forum isn't just for chat, no. Passing on notifications and useful information is arguably its primary function, and in any case the majority of users are involved in developer-funded archaeology in one form or another, not research (be that detectoring or academia), and people's strengths lie in what they know best. As far as this topic is concerned, we can sign a petition, OK; write to our MPs, gotcha; what else? Care to enlighten us what else we might do? Would the PAS staff appreciate some more hot air perhaps?

'Turns on it's wounded men' indeed. Metal detectorists are hardly a shining example of a united front are they Garry?

freeburmarangers.org


(spelling edited)

[BAJR Host]

I should say that Gary is a bloke I know quite well.... so don't think that you need worry about him taking the piss of BAJR...

On Britarch hey have talked about many things... but this has been strangely silent.. on Britarch ... and here too... strangely silent... Tom... please take a step back... accept my asurance that Gary was not taking a pop... rather stimulating debate...

Is it true that people have remianed silent about a serious issue? YES
Is it true that we should very publically denate it? YES
You comment about " I don't equate people chatting on a forum with effective action myself" could also be construed as offensive to BAJR users... suggesting we are all talk and no action....

So lets get this in perspective... The PAS need help and support... Curators need help and support Field Staff neeed help and support... etc..... BAJR (as a collective) can discuss and then act....

To remain silent, becuase this tackles a different issue... Hum... I for one have put my head, neck and body out there... my choice... my perogative... becuase of what is right... I may not see 100% eye to eye with the PAS... but by god.. I will not see them cut to pieces...!

"No job worth doing was ever done on time or under budget.."
Khufu