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US Coin dealer Alfredo De La Fe has a blog, and today's latest post is the predictable US coiney reaction to the latest PAS 'whoopee' news-spin:
Let us be clear why the vesting legislation the coineys criticise do not work. If Terence Thugwit metal detectorist finds something like this in the Republic of Distopia which declares all finds to be the property of the state, he can avoid trouble by declaring it and be thankful he is not locked up for trashing archaeological sites with his spade and metal detector. On the other hand, he may have a mate who knows a bloke that might give him a couple of hundred (!) Euros for it. Now that bloke can only realise his investment if HE in turn finds somebody who will give him a nice profit on his money (it's a risky business breaking the law in Distopia, best to get the dodgy goods out of the country). But he knows this Bavarian dealer who has contacts in the US market...
Should there be laws about people trashing the archaeological record for entertainment and profit? I of course have to say yes - as an archaeologist I believe firmly that there should.
Should there be laws which if effective and obeyed by citizens ensure that all archaeological finds are reported and made available for study? I again would say yes (with the proviso that there should ideally also be systematic data gathering by state-funded teams as we have in Poland).
Should the citizens who go out and trash sites for entertainment and profit be made aware by every possible means of the laws and their consequences, and if caught punished with the fullest severity of the law? Yes.
Should opportunities be made available for people who want to engage in real archaeological work in the landscape (even with metal detectors if done properly)? Absolutely.
What however should be stopped is a situation where people go out with tools to trash archaeological sites (do not do so according to "best practice"), squirrel away the information and artefacts, and clandestinely sell the unreported artefacts to willing dealers. Both they and the dealers buying illicit goods should be caught and punished to the maximum extent of the law. What those countries whose archaeological heritage is being clandestinely looted away need to do is cut off culture criminals who loot sites from the irresponsible people that will give them lots of money no-questions-asked for anything they bring along for sale. These people too are aiding and abetting culture crime, and in some cases committing it themselves. And cutting the US market off from these culture criminals (artefact smugglers and their fellows) is exactly the application of the CCPIA in the US is intended to achieve and the application of these measures is exactly what the ACCG (to which Alfredo De La Fe belongs) are trying to prevent - which is why he posts nonsense about "imagine if other countries had a PAS...". Is he suggesting that if other countries had a PAS there would be no need for the CCPIA and coin dealers would then not have to worry about documentation of legal export of the items they stock? What nonsense, the PAS has no connection whatsoever with fighting illicit exports of cultural property.![]()
US Coin dealer Alfredo De La Fe has a blog, and today's latest post is the predictable US coiney reaction to the latest PAS 'whoopee' news-spin: New Viking Ruler Discovered by a Metal detectorist?It is probably going to take another couple of decades before these dumb transatlantic people work out that the Treasure Act is administered through the Coroner, and the Portable Antiquities Scheme is something QUITE DIFFERENT. Is our "knowledge of the past" entirely dependent on knowing which Torre, Dicke or Harthacnut briefly claimed deo-gratia kingship in Northumbria or thereabouts in the 890s before succumbing to a rival's axe at the next territorial punch-up ? Or is it more important to understand the landscape and site context of the findspot of that lead container which when the finder hoiked it out, the "silver fell out" (or was it "prised open"?). As an archaeologist I would say that is as important, in fact I'd say it was potentially more important to our knowledge of the historical processes of the period than a mere king-list. That's good news fodder and may be exciting to coineys, but hardly advances our knowledge of the processes operating on the rest of society. This of course will not be known while all we have are a couple of hundred bits of metal hoiked out of the ground here and there and no context to put them in.
In today’s telegraph there is a story about the potential discovery of a new viking ruler based on the discovery of viking hoard by a metal detectorist. [the Silverdale Hoard of course]. This is a great example of how the Portable Antiquities Scheme works and contributes to our understanding of the past. Imagine if similar systems were in place in other source countries as opposed to restrictive laws which force the local markets under ground.
Let us be clear why the vesting legislation the coineys criticise do not work. If Terence Thugwit metal detectorist finds something like this in the Republic of Distopia which declares all finds to be the property of the state, he can avoid trouble by declaring it and be thankful he is not locked up for trashing archaeological sites with his spade and metal detector. On the other hand, he may have a mate who knows a bloke that might give him a couple of hundred (!) Euros for it. Now that bloke can only realise his investment if HE in turn finds somebody who will give him a nice profit on his money (it's a risky business breaking the law in Distopia, best to get the dodgy goods out of the country). But he knows this Bavarian dealer who has contacts in the US market...
Should there be laws about people trashing the archaeological record for entertainment and profit? I of course have to say yes - as an archaeologist I believe firmly that there should.
Should there be laws which if effective and obeyed by citizens ensure that all archaeological finds are reported and made available for study? I again would say yes (with the proviso that there should ideally also be systematic data gathering by state-funded teams as we have in Poland).
Should the citizens who go out and trash sites for entertainment and profit be made aware by every possible means of the laws and their consequences, and if caught punished with the fullest severity of the law? Yes.
Should opportunities be made available for people who want to engage in real archaeological work in the landscape (even with metal detectors if done properly)? Absolutely.
What however should be stopped is a situation where people go out with tools to trash archaeological sites (do not do so according to "best practice"), squirrel away the information and artefacts, and clandestinely sell the unreported artefacts to willing dealers. Both they and the dealers buying illicit goods should be caught and punished to the maximum extent of the law. What those countries whose archaeological heritage is being clandestinely looted away need to do is cut off culture criminals who loot sites from the irresponsible people that will give them lots of money no-questions-asked for anything they bring along for sale. These people too are aiding and abetting culture crime, and in some cases committing it themselves. And cutting the US market off from these culture criminals (artefact smugglers and their fellows) is exactly the application of the CCPIA in the US is intended to achieve and the application of these measures is exactly what the ACCG (to which Alfredo De La Fe belongs) are trying to prevent - which is why he posts nonsense about "imagine if other countries had a PAS...". Is he suggesting that if other countries had a PAS there would be no need for the CCPIA and coin dealers would then not have to worry about documentation of legal export of the items they stock? What nonsense, the PAS has no connection whatsoever with fighting illicit exports of cultural property.
