Heroes of heritage: Detrimental situations as commendable motivation for hobbyist metal detecting

Author(s): Josephine Rasmussen

Year: 2015

Summary

Within contemporary European heritage discourse, agriculture and forestry are increasingly identified as threats to archaeological remains. At ploughed-over archaeological sites, objects that where once associated with primary depositional contexts become mixed into the top soil, and this enhances their destruction. This paper explores the discourse that revolves around hobbyist metal detecting as a large scale means of rescuing archaeological material from destruction. Based on a case study from Norway, I address the rhetorical dichotomy between commendable and dubious motivations that permeates debates concerning hobbyist metal detecting, archaeology, antiquities trade and artifact collecting.

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Cite this Record

Heroes of heritage: Detrimental situations as commendable motivation for hobbyist metal detecting. Josephine Rasmussen. Presented at The 80th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, San Francisco, California. 2015 ( tDAR id: 397019)

Spatial Coverage

min long: -11.074; min lat: 37.44 ; max long: 50.098; max lat: 70.845 ;