.
What a wonderful job that metal detectorist did in discovering and uncovering an amazing hoard of Anglo-Saxon gold and silver items in a field in Staffordshire. Already, thousands of people have queued to see just a small part of the treasure on display in Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery.
Many of us may have a hankering to be out and about with a metal detector and be the discoverer of something like this. Of course, the government made it easier for metal detectorists to declare their finds and get a proper reward for them, and the man that discovered this lot, along with the landowner, will certainly benefit hugely. That is as it should be, of course.
I am not one of those who decry the efforts of the discoverer of this unique hoard or of the activities of other legitimate metal detector enthusiasts. Were it not for one man’s persistence in scouring every inch of that field in Staffordshire, this treasure may never have been uncovered and exposed to public view.
More importantly, perhaps, is that the beautiful 1,300-odd items recovered are going to keep the archaeologists, conservationists and historians occupied for a long time yet. And the public has yet to see and admire a lot more of it.
.
What a wonderful job that metal detectorist did in discovering and uncovering an amazing hoard of Anglo-Saxon gold and silver items in a field in Staffordshire. Already, thousands of people have queued to see just a small part of the treasure on display in Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery.
Many of us may have a hankering to be out and about with a metal detector and be the discoverer of something like this. Of course, the government made it easier for metal detectorists to declare their finds and get a proper reward for them, and the man that discovered this lot, along with the landowner, will certainly benefit hugely. That is as it should be, of course.
I am not one of those who decry the efforts of the discoverer of this unique hoard or of the activities of other legitimate metal detector enthusiasts. Were it not for one man’s persistence in scouring every inch of that field in Staffordshire, this treasure may never have been uncovered and exposed to public view.
More importantly, perhaps, is that the beautiful 1,300-odd items recovered are going to keep the archaeologists, conservationists and historians occupied for a long time yet. And the public has yet to see and admire a lot more of it.
.
No comments:
Post a Comment