A Detectorist's Guide To Field Archaeology

This 10-part series aims to meet the needs of a typical newcomer to the hobby who has yet to join a local club and who requires some guidance on how to put his/her detector to productive use on sites that might offer a variety of finds from ancient to modern.

My intention was to write Part 1 as an introduction to general research sources; to advise on tracking down local histories; to tips on studying Ordnance Survey maps; and to hints on permission seeking. This would have been combined with a couple of paragraphs outlining potential projects that might benefit from a field archaeology approach to homing-in on ground likely to yield productive results.

An unexpected development has, however, put that initial intention into holding mode.

Something better has come up: an opportunity for you to jump in at the deep end and to involve yourself and your detector in a fascinating and practical hands-on project. Take part and within hours you will begin to use local history resources to find your own interesting site. You will pour over Ordnance Survey maps shortly afterwards, and may even embark on your first permission seeking stratagem by the end of the day!

Did you spot a news item in the national press during the first week of November, 2016 that ran with the headline “Public Asked to Help Hunt for Witches’ Marks?”

The opening paragraphs reported that Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) has recently carried out surveys in several areas across England to record medieval graffiti inscribed on the walls of churches, castles and other historic buildings. The survey’s aim is to compile a comprehensive graffiti record and to study the results in hope of throwing more light on a neglected aspect of human behaviour several hundred years ago. Commission members want to compile a photo gallery of graffiti; and to ascertain where the marks were most often made; and to understand more comprehensively what the marks meant and conveyed to the people who inscribed them; and to those who looked at them during their everyday comings and goings around the building and the immediate neighbourhood.