It totally does make sense. Amateurs with metal detectors are in most cases not really qualified to to archeological digs. And they really are not able do document them properly. Archeology is not only about the artifacts, but also about how they were found. Take a roman coin: If you buy it on Ebay or find it in the street, it is a roman coin. But if you find a roman coin f.e. on an ancient battlefield, you can use it to date the battle. That context gets lost when archeology is not done properly.
Also their finds are vanishing mostly into private collections. That really doesn’t matter with random coins, but f.e. the sky disc of Nebra, one of Europes most stunning bronze age finds, was dug up during an illegal private metal detector search and they then tried to sell it on the black market. So it does make sense to ban metal detector hunting.
was dug up during an illegal private metal detector search
People just still do it, but don’t report anything. I don’t think the average illegal „hunter" is interested in finding a treasure and illegally selling it on black market, making his potential punishment even worse. In Germany it’s on the federal state to create the legal basis for a lot of things which you probably know, muelltonne, metal detecting is one of these. This makes the legal situation even more complicated with some states completely prohibiting and some allowing it if the land owner agrees. The Nederlands on the other hand have the same legal situation in the whole country, as far as I know, where searching for archaeological objects is legal with very few bureaucratic restrictions and a nation-wide app for registrating seekers and uploading their findings to the authorities. They’re happy with that.
And then there is the whole issue with private property - even if you’re not allowed to use metal detectors, there is nothing preventing you from digging holes in your own garden. But that is not what most people are doing - most suburbs are getting an archeological survey before they are build and then the construction will destroy everything else. So most metal detectors are running around on fields, through woods, some with private owners, some in state ownership
It totally does make sense. Amateurs with metal detectors are in most cases not really qualified to to archeological digs. And they really are not able do document them properly. Archeology is not only about the artifacts, but also about how they were found. Take a roman coin: If you buy it on Ebay or find it in the street, it is a roman coin. But if you find a roman coin f.e. on an ancient battlefield, you can use it to date the battle. That context gets lost when archeology is not done properly.
Also their finds are vanishing mostly into private collections. That really doesn’t matter with random coins, but f.e. the sky disc of Nebra, one of Europes most stunning bronze age finds, was dug up during an illegal private metal detector search and they then tried to sell it on the black market. So it does make sense to ban metal detector hunting.
People just still do it, but don’t report anything. I don’t think the average illegal „hunter" is interested in finding a treasure and illegally selling it on black market, making his potential punishment even worse. In Germany it’s on the federal state to create the legal basis for a lot of things which you probably know, muelltonne, metal detecting is one of these. This makes the legal situation even more complicated with some states completely prohibiting and some allowing it if the land owner agrees. The Nederlands on the other hand have the same legal situation in the whole country, as far as I know, where searching for archaeological objects is legal with very few bureaucratic restrictions and a nation-wide app for registrating seekers and uploading their findings to the authorities. They’re happy with that.
And then there is the whole issue with private property - even if you’re not allowed to use metal detectors, there is nothing preventing you from digging holes in your own garden. But that is not what most people are doing - most suburbs are getting an archeological survey before they are build and then the construction will destroy everything else. So most metal detectors are running around on fields, through woods, some with private owners, some in state ownership