Reporting and recording of important US historic artefacts

[austin1]

I was wondering what the situation is in the US with the reporting and recording of important historic artefacts. In the UK we now have an excellent and fair system which encourages detectorists and archaeologists to work together - the Portable Antiquities Scheme, run by the world-famous British Museum in London. Every British County has a Finds Liason Officer (FLO) who assists detectorists by recording important finds and helping with identification/research of artefacts, as well as administering the 1996 Treasure Act. The Treasure Act is a sensible and pragmatic piece of law which doesn't criminalise detectorists (unlike Ireland where the hobby has almost gone underground). Its main function is to ensure that the British Museum (or sometimes regional UK museums) are given the opportunity to purchase extraordinary finds, such as coin hoards or other items of extreme value/importance. If they do purchase (and it's a compulsory purchase without the finder having any say in the matter) the finder is paid the fair current market rate for the item/s. There is a well-balanced committee (including commercial artefact/coin dealers) that decides the market value.

I would hope that the US has State or Federal archaeologists who are available to guide detectorists and record items of national historic importance.

Pardon my ignorance on this aspect of US detecting!


Austin

 

[bottlebum]

Hey, [size=large]You watch your mouth![/size]

 

[Dutch Henry]

There is nothing like that in the U.S. You do not have to report to anyone. There are some places that do not allow metal detecting. Like the National Sea Shore in Texas, State Parks and National Parks. There may be some States that require reporting. I live in Texas and there is no reporting requirement here.

 

[bottlebum]

True, but it wouldn't surprise me if something like that did happen. It already seems like all the older sights,other than home sights, that would be worth detecting, have been taken over by the state or the Federal Government,therefore eliminating any chance of detecting the sight. This is true, especially in my state of Florida. Maybe it's not that way in other states, but they've done a pretty good job of restricting all military forts, ghost towns and battle sights to detectorists here.
By the way Austin, I hope that you didn't take any offense to my first reply, It was not my intention to offend you. It is just a slang phrase used quite a bit down here. If I did offend you, I apologize!
bottlebum

 

[austin1]

LOL... no offense.

My position is that detectorists SHOULD be allowed to detect on National Monuments, but also that they should be obliged to report important historic items so that they can be photographed, drawn, measured etc for the historic records. It would be great if some of the best finds could end up in local museums near the historic site in question for the public to enjoy.

The answer is, I guess, some type of lending scheme. Detectorists could have the honor of lending some of their finds to a local museum and be fully credited for their expert exploration work.

I'm a strong advocate of educating and involving people in their own history, and the historic artefacts that come from a site are key to bringing the past to life. Rather than just seeing an impressive brick or stone structure, visitors can see the daily artefacts which people used. Maybe the most striking example of that is to hold in your hand a group of coins from, say, 1800 or 1850 or whatever - that jingle is EXACTLY what people back then heard - a little time machine in the palm of your hand. We as detectorists are used to that sweet sound, but for regular people that's often an incredible thing.

But completely banning detectorists from historic sites is wrong. If the artefacts are in the ground, let's get them out into daylight for everyone to enjoy and learn about!

Austin

 

[bottlebum]

You know what Austin, the more you write about it, the more I like the idea.

 

[UK Brian]

So why on TreasureNet Forum is it suggested that if you find a hoard in the U.S. you should keep quite about it and dispose of the finds over a period of time ?

 

[bottlebum]

See now, that is where to me the Idea of reporting gets kind of tricky.
If it were a hoard of coins that I found, I feel that I should be able to keep it.But if it were General George Washingtons pocket watch that I found, then that would be a different story.