Metal detectorist to auction Roman helmet

[Silent Bob]

I'm not actually annoyed that they found it. Good on them, I wish I'd ever found anything quite that good. Not even annoyed that they want to sell it, a normal person would after all. Just wish I was sure it would actually be bought by the Government/ a museum. Just not sure that will actually happen at the moment.

I wonder what it came out of. Seems most likely to be a fort (presumably entirely unknown) ditch/pit or just possibly a camp? A burial might be a possibility but I'm fairly sure they normally cremated at this time so it seems a bit unlikely. The chance of it being a random loss is surely very very low.

[BAJR]

The chance of it being a random loss is surely very very low.

Its not the sort of thing you accidentaly lose... " whoops! where ma heid! "

[pdurdin]

Are there any laws or regulations about conservation ( restoration in this case, it would seem) of artifacts found? If they're subject to the Treasure Act, or not?

(I guess I could probably find this out online, but I'm already swamped with information about archaeology...)

[Unitof1]

Shock horror illiterate archaeologist often finds Maev Kennedy reports on archaeology a bit dim. I try reading her articles thinking that they were badly edited but quiet often come away with the impression that she is a curator type who has never undertaken any significant fieldwork (we know who you are). Is it really journalistic licence but then she does seem to report on a vast range of subjects at quite a rate? (bit of a Maev sentence there but then who am I to criticise).

[SIZE=3]He reported the finds to the Portable Antiquities Scheme at the British Museum, a voluntary scheme encouraging metal detectors to report all archaeological finds, but has now exercised his right to send it straight to auction.

whats the butt all about -and would have done[/SIZE]

[SIZE=3]He has found small pieces, including a few Roman coins, on a Cumbrian farm which is near a Roman road but miles from the nearest recorded Roman site.

-a roman road is a site isnt it?[/SIZE]

[SIZE=3]The Portable Antiquities Scheme played an essential role in working with the finder to discover exactly where the helmet was found, he said.

biszxaar essential to what[/SIZE]

Some statements which I kinda understand what shes getting at I still find a bit bizarre

[SIZE=3]Although unquestionably a treasure, it is not covered by treasure law

you dont know what a treasure is do you[/SIZE]

[SIZE=3]The helmet was found in more than 30 pieces, but has been restored and cleaned for sale by Christie's. Archaeologists fear clues on how it came to be buried in rough land may have been destroyed in the process

it was found in pieces presumably there might be almost an iffinate amount of pices out there that might relate to its compleatness but at least we know that is main uniquness is Rough ground. [/SIZE]

I want a Rough ground burial. the rougher the better. I want ground that says rough forever you know what I mean realy rough. Dam the clues that the helmet came to be buried in rough land may have been destroyed in the process. No more rough clues left. I feel so rough.


pdurdin there is big law and little law. This seems to be acceptable
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2010/a...sure-trove

So far Goodburn-Brown has logged more than 1,200 volunteer hours, worth almost ?250,000 if done professionally.

pdurdin what a butiful movement of your fingers over the keyboard

[Mike.T.]

He probably was given no choice but to send it to auction seeing as it was deemed to be not treasure. He probably ( or should ) have had a 50/50 aggreement with the landowner, so unless he had a spare ?150K to give him, or her, he had to sell it.

Of course in an ideal world he would have donated it to a museum but in reality would you give something worth ?100,000's away for nothing ?

[FedUp]

I know i'm instantly going to regret this, but if it was found in several pieces, why was it not then classed as treasure?
Presumably a hoard could then potentially be seen as one item in several pieces?? Although it has a number of component parts it is still only one entity? A little tenuous maybe but i'm sure the point could be argued!

[Mike.T.]

It's still only one artefact, as opposed to say a group of Bronze Age axeheads, which would be a group of artefacts = treasure.

[Unitof1]

good point fed. Maybe it had been split up for melting down. Type of argument that should have been put to the coroner. Was it ever considered/reported to the coronor. The origingal law was realy all about fencing stolen goods by passing it off as "treasure"

[Unitof1]

found this on the useless PAS website

On this very limited evidence votive offering or hoarding of loot might better explain its deposition at this findspot, but in the absence of excavation this must remain speculative.

I would say that has to be decided by the coroner.

PAS don’t say how long after the find was found was it reported or if other objects were found with it. Some of Meavs odd English comes from cutting and pasteing from

http://www.finds.org.uk/news/stories/article/id/195

[SIZE=3]Dr Roger Bland OBE, Head of Portable Antiquities and Treasure at the British Museum said:

This is an internationally important find and one which everyone agrees should be in a museum in this country and we are supporting the efforts of Tullie House Museum in Carlisle to acquire it.

The Portable Antiquities Scheme played an essential role in working with the finder to discover exactly where it was found, so that Tullie House Museum are able to bid for it and we hope that they are successful, although it is always difficult for a museum to buy an object like this at auction.
It is a pity that the object was restored before there was any opportunity to examine it scientifically, as that would have given us more information about how it came to be in the ground. We hope it will be possible for there to be an archaeological examination of the findspot.
[/SIZE]

I wonder how long after it was excavated was it reported to the PAS. The pictures show the frags cleaned and the PAS report 64 frgamnets -Meav.

What is Bland trying to say "essential role working with the finder to discover exactly where it was found"

Essential for whom Christies?

be nice to see what the inside looks like cant get PAS database picture to work

[Unitof1]

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