"Teen Finds Viking Hoard" Topic

Danish museum officials say that an archaeological dig last year has revealed 365 items from the Viking era, including 60 rare coins…

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Stokbro Larsen, who often explores with his detector, said he is often laughed at because friends find him "a bit nerdy."

And now world famous, and possibly rather well compensated for his find. So perhaps not so "nerdy" now.

Funny how many archaeological discoveries are credited to someone with a metal detector, but archaeologists all condemn their use!

It is not, I imagine, the use of the metal detector per se that they decry. But the fact that some amateur then digs up the items without following proper procedures.

Excellent find. And yes the untrained digging is what sets off most archeologists.

Funny how many archaeological discoveries are credited to someone with a metal detector, but archaeologists all condemn their use!

A lot of archaeologists do use detectors on site and do not decry the use of metal detectors at all, when they are used with due regard for recording the context of any finds. This report sounds like the detectorist was working on the site with the archaeologists, so no problem there.

As you say it's not so much the equipment but a small group of people mis-using it.

There's an ""amateur" archaeology society near me run by people who clearly don't have clue.

They recently took their detectors out on a local scheduled ancient monument and started digging up stuff to the great shock and bemusement of the authorities – no thought to the fact that such scheduling is done to protect important archaeological sites from being disturbed and that digging there without official permits and licenses is technically a criminal offence.

Well of course the detectorist digs it up. A modern copper penny sounds remarkably like a 200 year old copper penny! An archaeologist can't show up every time someone gets a beep on their detector.

A big difference between young enthusiasts like this and the organised 'nighthawk' gangs that pillage sites around the world.

An archaeologist can't show up every time someone gets a beep on their detector.

And they don't have to. Most detector finds are in the ploughsoil and thus out of context, so digging them up is not a problem. The responsible detectorist then reports the find to the local PAS including an accurate location. If the find is below the topsoil, they report it to the local archaeologist and it should get dug out with proper recording. In return they get more info on their find and the satisfaction of contributing to the total sum of knowledge. Spatial distribution maps from the PAS are fast becoming a very valuable resource in helping archaeologists understand what was going on in the past, and they would not be there if it were not for the detectorists that have contributed the data.

"Teen Finds Viking Hoard"

I once met a very nice, accomodating mature woman in Oslo !