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What is Time Team’s opinion of metal detectorists?
Detectorists have the potential to make a great contribution to archaeology
if they work within the law and in conjunction with landowners, academics
and field archaeologists. For example, the Hoxne Hoard, one of the richest
Roman treasures ever discovered, was found in a Suffolk field by a detectorist
who promptly reported it, saving many rare and delicate objects for conservation
that would otherwise have been destroyed by the plough.
Time Team has benefited hugely, too. At the investigation at High
Worsall in the 1998 series, detectorist John Bradbury gave us terrific
assistance checking spoil heaps, and he found several medieval artefacts.
And Tim Hand found many coins and the wonderful Roman brooch at Turkdean
during the 1997
Live, plus even more brooches when we returned there for the 1999
series. We couldn't have managed to investigate the huge site at Bawsey
St James for the 1998
Live without the help of all the detectorists, who work very closely with county archaeologist Andy Rogerson. And you can read detectorist Denny Woodthorpe’s account of his involvement with Time Team when he helped in the excavation of an Anglo-Saxon cemetery in the 2001 series.
Detecting is now an established tool within the battery of methods available
to professional archaeologists, and Time Team is happy to use it. This
is especially so if it is carried out by local detectorists with particular
experience of conditions in the area.
Unfortunately, however, there is a negative side. Any idiot can get hold of a metal detector. The irresponsible and criminal use of this little machine has greatly damaged the reputations of responsible detectorists. If all detectorists worked with local landowners and archaeologists, and recorded, reported and deposited their finds in their local museum, there would be no difficulties. Regrettably, the activities of a minority have made many archaeologists wary of all metal detectorists. Finds are unearthed and removed with no record of the context in which they were found; less valuable (to non-archaeologists) finds are simply discarded. At the site of the 2001 Live, unscrupulous detectorists were still raiding the site even as Time Team was setting up in advance of the dig.
The importance of recording metal detectorists' finds is now recognised
by the archaeological community, who have persuaded the government and
the Heritage Lottery Fund to fund a voluntary recording scheme for detected
finds: the Portable Antiquities Scheme. The bucket found by a detectorist
at the site of the 2001 Live was reported under this scheme.
The Portable Antiquities Scheme
The Portable Antiquities Scheme was set up in 1997 as a complement to the Treasure Act, which was introduced at the same time. The scheme currently covers about half of England and Wales. Its primary aim is to encourage amateur finders of archaeological objects, particularly metal detectorists, to record their finds with archaeologists. Finds are reported on a voluntary basis, unless they are treasure (mainly gold or silver objects more than 300 years old) – such finds have to be reported by law.
The Time Team Live 2001 site was discovered by a metal detectorist who
reported his finds to Sally Worrell, the finds liaison officer for Hampshire,
which is one of the areas covered by the scheme. So far over 60,000 objects
have been recorded, ranging from prehistoric flints to medieval buckles,
and information about a number of these can be found on the Portable
Antiquities Scheme's website. The website also provides information
about the scheme, details of all the finds liaison officers who record
finds in their local area, and important information about the Treasure
Act.
A weekend with Time Team
by metal detectorist Denny Woodthorpe
Late last summer I received a letter from Time Team’s production
unit inviting me to carry out the metal detecting associated with a programme
they were undertaking in Lincolnshire. The reason why I was chosen to
take part was apparently due to my close links with archaeologists at
both Scunthorpe Museum and Heritage Lincolnshire, where I report all my
own finds.
What followed was an amazing weekend throughout which I was made to feel
very much part of 'the Team' and during which I became closely involved
in the making of an exciting television programme.
Two hundred home-made flags
There were two of us metal detecting over the weekend, both local to the
area. Nine o’clock on Friday morning we were rushed up to the site
to undertake a preliminary survey. We are to be seen in the background
of Tony’s opening 'piece to camera'. I had brought with me 200 home-made
flags and these were stuck in the ground wherever we received a signal.
I had explained to the director that the great majority of these signals
would be from modern rubbish, but it was decided to see if there was a
concentration of signals in any area. It soon became evident that there
was no pattern to the signals and all those that were dug proved to be
modern iron rubbish.
When the first trench was put in, it soon became clear to me why we had
not found any older signals. The soil exposed was of fine clay, without
any stones in it, whereas the field next door had a plentiful supply of
stones of all sizes. This indicated to me that the area chosen for the
first trench had not been ploughed for hundreds of years. Worm action
had brought soil to the surface, causing stones and artefacts to migrate
lower and lower. Only items lost recently remained in the upper layers
and even if the field had been ploughed recently, the plough would have
only turned over the top, stone-free layers.
Interrupted by the cameraman's mobile
At this stage, I was interviewed by Phil on camera for a piece about metal
detecting. It took several 'takes' to get it right as we were walking,
talking and detecting at the same time. I was supposed to 'discover' an
object hidden in the grass, but missed it time after time by wandering
off line. When eventually I found it, the take was ruined by the cameraman’s
mobile phone ringing! We did finally get things right and I was assured
by Phil that as the item was scripted, it would appear in the programme.
However, events were to overtake us and as there was such an embarrassment
of riches in the three days, my little piece was edited out.
I took lunch with the Team and spent an enjoyable time chatting to Phil
when I gave him a lift back up to the site. It was a real pleasure discussing
landscape theory with Stewart Ainsworth; and John Gater even asked me
for my opinions on different detectors, as they were thinking of buying
a new one for the geophysics team.
Roman coins and the Anglo-Saxon knife
Having found nothing on the surface of the field or in the trench, we
began Day Two surveying the field next door, which had been ploughed and
harrowed by the farmer. I met with greater success here, finding several
late Roman coins and part of a medieval spur. These were bagged and left
on the surface of the field where they were found, so that Bernard of
the geophysics team could plot their precise location using satellite
navigation. It made my own recording technique of a six-figure grid reference
look weak by comparison.
For the rest of the weekend, I spent my time searching spoil heaps and
going over the floor of the trenches. My particular highlight was 'finding'
the knife lying on the chest of the skeleton being excavated by Carenza.
It was very satisfying to predict that there was a long thin iron object
lying on the ribs – and to be proved right as Carenza carefully scraped
the soil away.
A puzzle solved?
The main 'puzzle' of the weekend was why the Anglo-Saxon cemetery lay in the remains of a Roman settlement. I have a definite theory as to why this was so. Land was precious to Anglo-Saxon farmers, most of whom produced barely enough to keep their families alive. If the elders of the village had approached one of them for land for a cemetery, I am sure he would have been loath to give up any of his productive land. Instead, he would have directed them to the bit of land on the top of the hill that was so full of rubble that he could not get a plough through it. I think that is why Anglo-Saxon cemeteries occur in the rubble of Roman sites. The higher the status of the Roman site, the more rubble, and the more marginal the land.
Other Anglo-Saxon cemeteries in the area also occur on marginal, unproductive land. Often it is on very weak, sandy soil, as at Ruskington, where the soil is of such poor quality that the farmers have left most of the fields in the area as 'set aside' for the last ten years. I believe that it is always the least productive land that is used for burial.
Promoting responsible metal detecting
Looking back over the weekend, I would like to think that my involvement
in the Time Team programme has done a little to promote the hobby of metal
detecting as a responsible pastime, in which the majority are involved
in discovering history and sharing it with others. Many thousands of artefacts
are being rescued from destruction in the plough soil of this country
by people with metal detectors. The Voluntary Reporting Scheme now in
operation means that a large proportion of these artefacts are properly
recorded, enabling archaeologists to fit more pieces into the jigsaw that
is our past.
I thoroughly enjoyed my time with the Team and can now appreciate more
fully the stresses involved in undertaking a dig in three days whilst
recording it all for the cameras. I do not even mind ending up on the
cutting room floor – even though I had assured family and friends
that I was going to be on television!
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