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In the gloom
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Is it not our search for knowledge, and the understanding knowledge gives us about ourselves and our history, that should guide us here? And is it not the case that sensible and caring people will not want to see any aspect of our history damaged or lost through irresponsible practices? Surely it is as much a crime against our search for knowledge to let a burial site and it's contents be lost forever through neglect as it is to rip it apart in the name of archaeological investigation. And is it not as much a crime to remove from a field a broach or a coin without proper records as it is to let that broach or coin disappear from the store of human knowledge because no-one has the time or the money to go out and find it?

Seems to me that what we're really arguing about is not whether people should or should not uncover more of our history it is whether, in the process of uncovering that history, more of the history is lost than saved. Responsible people, whether archaeologist, conservator or detectorist, know full-well that it's not just the object that is important, it's everything associated with it that is of equal or greater value (in terms of knowledge that is). We can bang each other's heads against the wall until the end of time but if we accept that what is of real value is knowledge and understanding about ourselves and our history then surely it shouldn't be too difficult to find a way to pull in the same direction.

From Beowulf: In the gloom the gold gathers the light against it. The light here, perhaps, is not the cheep light of glittering metal but the brighter light of knowledge.


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Littlestone
Posted by Littlestone
30th May 2007ce
20:10

In reply to:

local tv: metal detectorists vs archaeologists (Rhiannon)

2 replies:

Re: In the gloom (Littlestone)
Re: In the gloom (Paul Barford)

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