6th December 2009, 02:44 PM
I've voted "other" on this pole. I certainly don't think there should be individual rewards for finding something of financial value on a site which an archaeologist is being paid to work. We're not treasure hunters or antiquarians after all (?). But perhaps some thought should be given to ploughing money resulting from any purchase of valuable items found on professionally run excavations. The idea of setting up a central fund that could provide bursaries to help further training of professional archaeologists does have some appeal. The land owner would still get his cut just the same as if a metal detectorist found something on their land. However, genuinely valuable finds are not that common so there wouldn't be that much money available from treasure in general terms. Still it is something worth considering.