HOW TO DIG FOR TREASURE

There's a lot more to a detectorist's hobby than picking up a metal detector and sweeping a field. Here's how to responsibly prepare for a fun day out, detecting techniques and, perhaps most importantly, the law

- BEN BIGGS

WHERE TO START

We'll get into the basic detecting techniques and equipment later, but before you get out there and start sweeping any old patch of land, give your metal detector a practice run by burying a few metal objects in your garden or a patch of land you have access to.

Then familiarise yourself with the laws surrounding amateur metal detecting in your country. If there's a local metal-detecting club in your area, join it! Not only will you benefit from the experience and advice of seasoned detectorists, you'll have access to group events with permission prearranged with the landowner.

Britain has a deep and chequered history that can be traced across dozens of major cultures right back to prehistoric times. Over thousands of years it has been populated by neolithic hunter-gatherers, the gregarious Beaker people, fractious Celtic tribes and powerful civilisations like the Romans, wielding their influence from faraway lands across the sea. They have invariably warred and squabbled with each other in a tug of war over territory, and sometimes settled into periods of peace and prosperity. It's quite literally a rich history, if we are to go by the fantastic treasures that are pulled out of Britain's muddy fields on a surprisingly frequent basis.