Britarch Debates on Portable Antiquities

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This section provides an archive of the latest debates on portable antiquities in the United Kingdom.

2008

  • PAS Treasure Report. Discussions about the latest PAS Treasure Report (26 Nov 2008).
  • Iraq Looting Ends. The leading archaeologist in Iraq says that “professional looting has ended”, and “the black market in antiquities seems to have stopped”. So is there a direct causal connection between collecting and looting? (31 Aug 2008)
  • Archaeology’s Limits (was ‘Government intrusion and theft’). Discussion proposed by Paul Barford about ‘exclusive control’ of artefacts (1 Aug 2008)
  • Ebay Ruling. Discussions about antiquity forgeries on Ebay (6 Jun 2008)
  • A “PAS” approach in occupied Iraq. “Iraqis delivering finds to the museum are rewarded financially. The department asks no questions on how they came into their possession.” Discussions about whether this will encourage the looting of artefacts (12 May 2008).
  • Metal Detecting–an easy target. Since housing development has been a major threat to heritage, should metal detectorists and archaeologists build up mutual trust and cooperation to survive in the commercial world? (16 Jan 2008)

2007

  • Roman metal object. A mysterious metal object was found in a Roman context. Listers guess it might be a cloth mop head, a vine hook, a shepherd’s crook, or something else (28 Nov 2007)
  • Nighthawking survey online. A major investigation into the problem of nighthawking is launched by Oxford Archaeology, followed by a number of comments (27 Jun 2007)
  • Metal Detecting - Licencing. Discussion about whether it is necessary for metal detectorists to get a licence (13 Jun 2007)
  • Definition of Artefact. Discussions about the definition of ‘artefact’, and whether an artefact must necessarily be ‘portable’? (1 Feb 2007)