Radio Prague, Czech Republic is reporting the story of a young relic hunter who tragically died two years ago in an apartment fire. When fire fighters arrived at the scene they saw an apartment “chock-full of strange looking metal objects.” There were more than 3,000 items in the man’s one bedroom apartment and with the help of experts from the Czech Academy of Sciences’ Archaeological Institute, the public is now realizing the man was an “amateur archaeologist,” maybe just another metal detectorist like ourselves. 
On the black market these items, some of which are prehistoric, are worth millions of dollars. But as they have been found with no documentation or records about where they were found, they have almost no scientific value. There are bowls, cups, clips, bracelets, pins, rings, axes and more.
Miroslav Dobeš of the Archaeological Institute lamented lack of documentation over a spectacle-shaped pendant, one of the oldest copper objects found in Central Europe that dates back to roughly 4,000 B.C., has zero scientific value, and leaves historians baffled as to where it came from.
I’m not too crazy about the anti-metal-detectorist stance this article takes, but I do agree that it’s important to log where you’ve been and what you’ve found. And with today’s accessibility to digital cameras there is no reason us metal detectorists can’t keep good track of our relics and hunting grounds - if for no other reason than to show ‘em off!
The thrill of metal detecting, relic hunting, and coin shooting is about finding something significant to history sharing it with others. When you find that CSA belt buckle and see it lying in the same place a solder fell over 100 years ago you should preserve not only the metal object out of the ground, but the story of the solder that wore it - where it places him on the battlefield, among his troops and beside his friends.
I think now is as good a time as any to learn from someone else’s mistake and document your finds. Good luck and happy hunting!
Subscribe By Feed Reader
Subscribe By Email
Add to Technorati
Recent Comments