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pjthompsonOne of the things I admire about the British is this program they have for paying treasure hunters for the finds they make. That means that wonderful, historic treasures like this one have a chance of staying in the country on public display instead of being melted down or sold off on the black market. British treasure still finds its way onto the blackmarket or private collections, of course, but I think they have a much greater success at keeping the important things that amateurs find.
What do we do in this country? We prosecute if the items are found on public land and the thieves are caught (a big if), or we let the free market have them if not. Either way, they largely escape the public trust. In poorer countries, of course, where people are just scratching to survive, they immediately hit the black market and the history of the world, the story of mankind in all its various phases and struggles—the real treasure—is lost forever because pieces taken out of the context in which they are found have no real story to tell, or not as significant a one. They become rootless objects, prizes for some rich person's collection, rather than the legacy from our ancestors they should be.
Of course, the irony is not lost on me that this hoard probably originated as some rich man or woman's collection, hidden to protect it from the invading hordes who undoubtedly would have melted it down for their own purposes. History is, after all, a give and take. What survives to tell its story is also a give and take, and something of a crap shoot.
What do we do in this country? We prosecute if the items are found on public land and the thieves are caught (a big if), or we let the free market have them if not. Either way, they largely escape the public trust. In poorer countries, of course, where people are just scratching to survive, they immediately hit the black market and the history of the world, the story of mankind in all its various phases and struggles—the real treasure—is lost forever because pieces taken out of the context in which they are found have no real story to tell, or not as significant a one. They become rootless objects, prizes for some rich person's collection, rather than the legacy from our ancestors they should be.
Of course, the irony is not lost on me that this hoard probably originated as some rich man or woman's collection, hidden to protect it from the invading hordes who undoubtedly would have melted it down for their own purposes. History is, after all, a give and take. What survives to tell its story is also a give and take, and something of a crap shoot.
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Date: 2009-11-29 10:37 am (UTC)We had a long period of almost open warfare between archaeologists and metal detectorists, with an unknown, but probably large, amount of stuff vanishing into the black market, but the new laws seem to be working magnificently well, as there is such a strong incentive for the detectorist to declare the find.
The current thinking is that this one is far more than a rich individual's hoard; if it was, then Mercia at the date must have been an absolute El Dorado. It would need to have been a king; there's literary evidence for processional crosses being used as standards in battle. Another alternative is that it was a Viking/Dane's haul that had to be abandoned - the location has been kept secret, but much of Staffordshire isn't all that far from the Mercia/Danelaw border.
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Date: 2009-11-29 11:44 pm (UTC)Interesting that the hoard is too large for an individual. It really sparks the imagination, doesn't it? I'm glad it will be in the public trust (hopefully).