11th July 2005, 09:17 AM
Doesn't the fact that you can buy (Presumably legible) Bulk Roman coins, whole pots, saleable metalwork and statues say something to you though? Like you say, this stuff is not that common in the UK, - because nearly everything dug up over here is broken or corroded or just knackered! Most of this stuff seems to get shipped over from the Middle East, where it's pretty commonplace, and on sale all over the place in shops and markets for peanuts (or less). There are a few of these shops in London and the provenance of most of the objects is displayed, so you can see where they come from (there's one opposite the British Museum). I've been to antiquities and coin fairs in London where this stuff is on sale too, and not a lot of it is home-grown. There are a few of metal detectorists flogging finds, but most of their objects are provenanced as well - people largely appear to have got the idea of an object being worthless if you don't know where it comes from. Not that I wish to condone the trade in antiquities from abroard, but this industry appears to be pretty legit and it's rare to hear of any legal action being taken, although I always have the nagging suspicion that at the sharp end of the trade are sites getting looted by locals for pennies. I wouldn't worry about wanting to dig in London to get juicy finds either. I dug there for a few years and it's got just as many broken tiles and smashed pots as anywhere else!