28th September 2009, 10:06 AM
garybrun Wrote:No dig... a serious question.
Lets put it this way....
If I as a metal detectorist did this with my spade and trowel would you be horrified and judge me by a 2 minute video?
Ive had a look around and seen that it is being judged by a few archaeologists too.
Is it me or does it seem people get very protective of their own??
I appreciate that it is a serious question, it was just unfortunately phrased as a bit of a dig in my opinion.
I don't think I would be particularly concerned by a video of a detectorist working with a spade and trowel - why should I be? Detectorist have far more to get out of it if the goods come out intact!
Besides, they (the archaeologists in the video) appear to be removing artefacts from plough soil, in a field which I understand had been recently deep ploughed. If the objects can survive that then they can survive a little tugging. Not to mention the undoubted time pressures they were probably under - I would imagine that there was some concern over the site being looted before they could get finished.
I don't think archaeologists are protective enough of their own, although that is a slightly ironic point given how quick some detectorists are to defend their hobby...