http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/staffordshire/8272058.stm

 Anyone know whose farm it is? ;-)

Anyone ever found treasure on their farm?

My 3-year-old daughter regular finds what we call 'treasure' but it is mainly broken bits of old crockery and clay pipes...

i have 2 top of the range metal detectors if you whant to have a look on your farm i have just started metal dectecting thanks

I found parts of two fossilised plants, similar to gigantic horsetail, on two different farms, 25 miles apart in Northumberland in the 1970s. Here, I frequently turn up what appear to be stone age axes and............... believe this or believe it not, so far about 20 phallic symbols in all sizes from about 3 inches up to 10 inches. I can only guess at their purpose, but one visitor showed the biggest one to his wife and said "Merry Christmas".

Jacobus, You made such a good job of explaining insolvency that I am sure you can come up with a straightforward explanation of Treasure Trove and the rights and expectations of those who find valuable objects whilst metal detecting, or just cultivating their land.

My wife found a flint arrowhead in the area I had tilled up for her veggie garden this year. Being a big fan of the tv show "Time Team America", she has now cordoned off an 8' square area where she found it and is scraping off the dirt layer by layer. Several friends who are aware of this have advised us to keep our mouths shut if she actually starts finding things.

 Jon

old mcdonald:

Jacobus, You made such a good job of explaining insolvency that I am sure you can come up with a straightforward explanation of Treasure Trove and the rights and expectations of those who find valuable objects whilst metal detecting, or just cultivating their land.

Ah, but then I was writing from knowledge rather than ignorance.  There are loads of websites out there which give the legal position in the UK and elsewhere but a brief summary of the UK position would be as follows:

In England and Wales, The Treasure Act 1996 deals with finds of treasure.  It legally obliges finders of ‘treasure' to report the find to their local coroner within fourteen days of either finding it or of realising that it could be treasure'.  An inquest led by the coroner then determines whether the find constitutes treasure or not.  If is declared to be treasure then the owner must offer the item for sale to a museum at a price set by an independent board of antiquities experts.  If no museum expresses an interest in the item or is unable to purchase it then it is returned to the landowner.

'Treasure' is defined as being:

• All coins from the same hoard. A hoard is defined as two or more coins, as long as they are at least 300 years old when found. If they contain less than 10% gold or silver there must be at least 10 in the hoard for it to qualify.
• Two or more prehistoric base metal objects in association with one another
• Any individual (non-coin) find that is at least 300 years old and contains at least 10% gold or silver.
• Associated finds: any object of any material found in the same place as (or which had previously been together with) another object which is deemed treasure.
• Objects substantially made from gold or silver but are less than 300 years old, that have been deliberately hidden with the intention of recovery and whose owners or heirs are unknown.

Under English law a landowner has sole title to any archaeological artifacts found on his or her property.  Legitimate metal detectorists would normally have an agreement with the land owner to share any proceeds from finds.

It should be borne in mind that it is illegal to use metal detectors or to excavate on scheduled ancient monuments and those in various Stewardship schemes may find clauses in their agreements relating to relevant landscape features on their land.

The law in Scotland is different (of course) and all archaeological finds, except for coins from the reign of Victoria onwards, automatically belong to the Crown.  All finds must be reported to the Treasure Trove unit of the National Museums of Scotland.  If the Crown decides it doesn't want the find then it would be returned to the landowner.

As far as Portugal is concerned there seem to be loads of laws governing objects of archaeological or cultural importance and the only detailed site I could find seemed to be a very convoluted translation.  Suffice it to say that it seems that almost every department of government is involved, and I think that if you ever attempt to take one of your phalluses (phalli?) out of the country you will need the permission of the Minister of Culture as a bare minimum!

I notice that some leading archeaologists are saying that "This will radically change our understanding of Anglos Saxon culture." I am probably naive but is this an overstatement?

The hoard appears to comprise a large number of objects but none of them unique to the period and whilst, interesting and, no doubt, adding some new insights. A radical change of understanding?

Most farmland will have lot's of items waiting to be discovered. Using a metal detector can be great fun but there are hours and hours of finding either nothing or unearthing junk, although historical junk can be fun.

Most detectorists and land owners go for a 50/50 split so on this case Christmas has come early for them both.

Usually, most detectorists belong to clubs and should always carry insurance.

If there any farmers in the Carlisle area who would be willing to see if there's treasure on their land, please let me know ...

Best regards.

Mike.

There are five pictures of the Staffs Hoard here....

the fact that they had the skills to make the artifacts from scratch is what amazes me; like the people of years ago who built the castles and cathedrals, that they were able to make such amazing buildings then, with no machinary, lazer beams or grinders, and with the knowledge that they would never see the finished product but hopefully their children or grand children would

....ooo-er, that sounds a bit deep, but look at the technology we have today- and the rubbissh that we build!

 You realise how lazy we have become when you think how thinkgs like the pyramid and sphynx were built (admittedly with slave labour that you weren't too worried if the died) though from what I understand a lot of the techniques are still pretty much the same in jewelry crafting.

Charlie,

           don't get too disheartened.  The wonderful cathedrals and other building we have inherited are, by definition, the ones that survived.  Slightly over half of mediaeval Cathedrals collapsed within 6 years of building (Many thanks to Prof Jaques Heyman for pointing that out to me: his book "The Stone Skeleton" is accessible by ordinary mortals and well worth reading, though Jaques himself tells it even better). 

          One of the main things that Cathedrals did cost to build was lives: typically 2-4 per year for each of 20 to 100 years.  Bring on the angle grinders I say.

Apparently most of our ancient and wonderful cathedrals are held together with gaffer tape (duck tape etc!), so we can still produce something wonderful with all our modern technology (ha, ha). Of course this only the opinion of the Sunday Telegraph, so could be slightly biased!

katndog2:

Of course this only the opinion of the Sunday Telegraph, so could be slightly biased!

In what way do you think the Sunday Telegraph is biased' where it reports a Bishop's comments on the state of Canterbury Cathedral?

I suppose you could, of course, say that by choosing to quote the Bishop and the issue he raises it is being preferential. However, such an objection could be applied to ever section of the media that chooses one story over another.

It might be that you could say that because the Sunday Telegraph is, broadly speaking, supportive of the Conservative Party it is likely to choose stories with some relevance to its readers. However, in this respect too, the paper does not act in ways dissimilar to every other section of the media.

It might be interesting to know whether you think that national resources should be directed towards the preservation of ancient buildings, including cathedrals etc, or whether you would rather resources be directed towards another objective?