Portable Antiquities Scheme
The Treasure Act makes it a legal requirement to report any finds that fall under its definition, but beyond this, metal detectorists in many cases draw up agreements to divide any finds with the owners of land where they are searching. However, once an object has been removed from the place where it was found (its context) then much potentially valuable information has been lost and so, in 1997, the Portable Antiquities Scheme was set up.
'These finds have provided new insight ... and have revealed whole new classes of medieval objects ...'
The scheme was established to encourage the reporting of finds, of all types and all periods, through a network of Portable Antiquities liaison officers, currently ten in number. In the past few years tens of thousands of new finds have been reported, recorded and their find spots added to the relevant Sites and Monuments Records.
These finds have provided new insight into Danish Viking settlement in East Anglia, have shown the hitherto unsuspected importance of the East Midlands in the Iron Age, and have revealed whole new classes of medieval objects, among them dress fittings such as brooches and clasps. Perhaps more importantly this liaison has helped to break down some of the traditional hostility that tends to exist between archaeologists and those who use metal detectors.
Published: 2005-01-24
