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> "He emailed a picture to an expert contact who said it was part of a Celtic horse harness and dating from around 600 BC. Professionals should have taken over

> "He emailed a picture to an expert contact who said it was part of a Celtic horse harness and dating from around 600 BC. Professionals should have taken over here. > Mr Smith, from Milford Haven, went straight back the following day. He dug down to"[...] The context layers in a dig betray is often very important. Even if he didn't destroy valuable objects, he most probably destroyed a lot of valuable information!

sandworm101 8y ago
But this guy was a hunter. There is a legal tension whenever a hunter finds the tip of what looks to be a big find. Should they hand it to experts, and let the experts make the further discoveries, or thouroughly document the site so they can claim the credit for each object found? There are normally negotiations, and silly theatrics whereby the original detectorist stands amongst the scientists, so they are seen to be "discovering" each piece as it is unearthed. I dont fault them. Millions might be at stake.
- SmellyGeekBoy 8y ago
  I can't fault the detectorists for wanting to be involved, it would be a real shame to discover something like this and then just hand it straight off to someone else the second things started to get interesting. A lot of these people are very passionate about history, any potential financial incentive might just be a secondary consideration.
  - sandworm101 8y ago
    In places like britain, or egypt, artifacts are literally everywhere. You cannot put a shovel in without hitting something. So, like it or not, history and science are not always the primary concern. Farmers want thier fields back asap. Teams need to move fast, often with only a single season of actual digging.
isostatic 8y ago
Sure But when faced with "But he had to convince the experts. One of the first he spoke to told him: "No, you're wrong. One's never been found in this part of the country."" what can you do?
- zhte415 8y ago
  He certainly didn't give up. He seems tenacious. And that seems the right thing to have been done. > "I knew the importance of them straight away," said Mr Smith who has been prospecting for around 30 years. > "It was just instinct. I'd read all about chariot burials and just wished it could have been me, so finding this has been a privilege." The area has a long Celtic history. For readers unfamiliar perhaps with the UK or this part of the UK, some context: the stones in Stonehenge [0] were sourced from the Preseli Hills [1] several hundred kilometers away (in the part of Wales this site is). Pembrokeshire is beautiful, and somewhat rugged. Rolling hills meet sandy beaches, equally meeting treacherous cliffs. As a child, I remember frequently climbing to the peak of an iron age settlement in the morning, sort-of mixing-in with the sheep left to roam there, then after lunch, a quite long walk down to the sandy beaches it overlooked. Trying to catch shrimp in the sandy pools the escaping tide left. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stonehenge https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stonehenge [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preseli_Hills https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preseli_Hills
  - celticninja 8y ago
    I have similar memories. I remember as kids we used to play in an old castle by the beach, its just open and anyone can go and wander around it. I travel around the UK with my kids and these days everything wants to charge an entry fee, even other castles in similar states of decay/disrepair. Easily my favourite castle https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Llansteffan_Castle https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Llansteffan_Castle
    - SamColes 8y ago
      There are free to access castle ruins and buildings of a similar age and much older all over the UK, they're hardly in short supply. Maybe you didn't intend it but this comes across as overly pessimistic. It's hardly as if every bit of history in the country has had a fence put round it to charge an entry fee. Not trying to say what you're describing doesn't exist, but the only place I can think of that I've been to that charges to see some 3ft high bits of wall would be Old Sarum, but that also has great views.
SmellyGeekBoy 8y ago
The article says he's been finding these items for 30+ years. He may not be a "professional" archaeologist but I'm sure he's more than familiar with the process and the protocol around these things as well as the importance of not destroying valuable evidence. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt, at least.
codeulike 8y ago
He didn't dig very far - only as far as he needed to show what it was - and left most of it for the archaeologists to dig, if you read the article

sandworm101 8y ago

But this guy was a hunter. There is a legal tension whenever a hunter finds the tip of what looks to be a big find. Should they hand it to experts, and let the experts make the further discoveries, or thouroughly document the site so they can claim the credit for each object found? There are normally negotiations, and silly theatrics whereby the original detectorist stands amongst the scientists, so they are seen to be "discovering" each piece as it is unearthed. I dont fault them. Millions might be at stake.

SmellyGeekBoy 8y ago
I can't fault the detectorists for wanting to be involved, it would be a real shame to discover something like this and then just hand it straight off to someone else the second things started to get interesting. A lot of these people are very passionate about history, any potential financial incentive might just be a secondary consideration.
- sandworm101 8y ago
  In places like britain, or egypt, artifacts are literally everywhere. You cannot put a shovel in without hitting something. So, like it or not, history and science are not always the primary concern. Farmers want thier fields back asap. Teams need to move fast, often with only a single season of actual digging.

isostatic 8y ago

Sure But when faced with "But he had to convince the experts. One of the first he spoke to told him: "No, you're wrong. One's never been found in this part of the country."" what can you do?

zhte415 8y ago
He certainly didn't give up. He seems tenacious. And that seems the right thing to have been done. > "I knew the importance of them straight away," said Mr Smith who has been prospecting for around 30 years. > "It was just instinct. I'd read all about chariot burials and just wished it could have been me, so finding this has been a privilege." The area has a long Celtic history. For readers unfamiliar perhaps with the UK or this part of the UK, some context: the stones in Stonehenge [0] were sourced from the Preseli Hills [1] several hundred kilometers away (in the part of Wales this site is). Pembrokeshire is beautiful, and somewhat rugged. Rolling hills meet sandy beaches, equally meeting treacherous cliffs. As a child, I remember frequently climbing to the peak of an iron age settlement in the morning, sort-of mixing-in with the sheep left to roam there, then after lunch, a quite long walk down to the sandy beaches it overlooked. Trying to catch shrimp in the sandy pools the escaping tide left. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stonehenge https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stonehenge [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preseli_Hills https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preseli_Hills
- celticninja 8y ago
  I have similar memories. I remember as kids we used to play in an old castle by the beach, its just open and anyone can go and wander around it. I travel around the UK with my kids and these days everything wants to charge an entry fee, even other castles in similar states of decay/disrepair. Easily my favourite castle https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Llansteffan_Castle https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Llansteffan_Castle
  - SamColes 8y ago
    There are free to access castle ruins and buildings of a similar age and much older all over the UK, they're hardly in short supply. Maybe you didn't intend it but this comes across as overly pessimistic. It's hardly as if every bit of history in the country has had a fence put round it to charge an entry fee. Not trying to say what you're describing doesn't exist, but the only place I can think of that I've been to that charges to see some 3ft high bits of wall would be Old Sarum, but that also has great views.

SmellyGeekBoy 8y ago

The article says he's been finding these items for 30+ years. He may not be a "professional" archaeologist but I'm sure he's more than familiar with the process and the protocol around these things as well as the importance of not destroying valuable evidence. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt, at least.

codeulike 8y ago

He didn't dig very far - only as far as he needed to show what it was - and left most of it for the archaeologists to dig, if you read the article