Pembrokeshire treasure hunter unearths Celtic chariot
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Re: Pembrokeshire treasure hunter unearths Celtic chariot
#2> "He emailed a picture to an expert contact who said it was part of a Celtic horse harness and dating from around 600 BC.
Professionals should have taken over here.
> Mr Smith, from Milford Haven, went straight back the following day. He dug down to"[...]
The context layers in a dig betray is often very important. Even if he didn't destroy valuable objects, he most probably destroyed a lot of valuable information!
Re: Pembrokeshire treasure hunter unearths Celtic chariot
#3> "He emailed a picture to an expert contact who said it was part of a Celtic horse harness and dating from around 600 BC. Professionals should have taken over here. > Mr Smith, from Milford Haven, went straight back the following day. He dug down to"[...] The context layers in a dig betray is often very important. Even if he didn't destroy valuable objects, he most probably destroyed a lot of valuable information!
Sure
But when faced with
"But he had to convince the experts. One of the first he spoke to told him: "No, you're wrong. One's never been found in this part of the country.""
what can you do?
Re: Pembrokeshire treasure hunter unearths Celtic chariot
#4> "He emailed a picture to an expert contact who said it was part of a Celtic horse harness and dating from around 600 BC. Professionals should have taken over here. > Mr Smith, from Milford Haven, went straight back the following day. He dug down to"[...] The context layers in a dig betray is often very important. Even if he didn't destroy valuable objects, he most probably destroyed a lot of valuable information!
But this guy was a hunter. There is a legal tension whenever a hunter finds the tip of what looks to be a big find. Should they hand it to experts, and let the experts make the further discoveries, or thouroughly document the site so they can claim the credit for each object found?
There are normally negotiations, and silly theatrics whereby the original detectorist stands amongst the scientists, so they are seen to be "discovering" each piece as it is unearthed. I dont fault them. Millions might be at stake.
Re: Pembrokeshire treasure hunter unearths Celtic chariot
#5> "He emailed a picture to an expert contact who said it was part of a Celtic horse harness and dating from around 600 BC. Professionals should have taken over here. > Mr Smith, from Milford Haven, went straight back the following day. He dug down to"[...] The context layers in a dig betray is often very important. Even if he didn't destroy valuable objects, he most probably destroyed a lot of valuable information!
The article says he's been finding these items for 30+ years. He may not be a "professional" archaeologist but I'm sure he's more than familiar with the process and the protocol around these things as well as the importance of not destroying valuable evidence. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt, at least.
Re: Pembrokeshire treasure hunter unearths Celtic chariot
#6> "He emailed a picture to an expert contact who said it was part of a Celtic horse harness and dating from around 600 BC. Professionals should have taken over here. > Mr Smith, from Milford Haven, went straight back the following day. He dug down to"[...] The context layers in a dig betray is often very important. Even if he didn't destroy valuable objects, he most probably destroyed a lot of valuable information!
But this guy was a hunter. There is a legal tension whenever a hunter finds the tip of what looks to be a big find. Should they hand it to experts, and let the experts make the further discoveries, or thouroughly document the site so they can claim the credit for each object found? There are normally negotiations, and silly theatrics whereby the original detectorist stands amongst the scientists, so they are seen to…
I can't fault the detectorists for wanting to be involved, it would be a real shame to discover something like this and then just hand it straight off to someone else the second things started to get interesting. A lot of these people are very passionate about history, any potential financial incentive might just be a secondary consideration.
Re: Pembrokeshire treasure hunter unearths Celtic chariot
#7very cool find. archeologists also destroy a lot of evidence, and if they find anything that doesn't fit rpevious findings often either ignore it or are highly skeptical, which is why i assume he hd some trouble to convince this was an actual find, and had to ... dig a little deeper :D
Re: Pembrokeshire treasure hunter unearths Celtic chariot
#8> "He emailed a picture to an expert contact who said it was part of a Celtic horse harness and dating from around 600 BC. Professionals should have taken over here. > Mr Smith, from Milford Haven, went straight back the following day. He dug down to"[...] The context layers in a dig betray is often very important. Even if he didn't destroy valuable objects, he most probably destroyed a lot of valuable information!
Sure But when faced with "But he had to convince the experts. One of the first he spoke to told him: "No, you're wrong. One's never been found in this part of the country."" what can you do?
He certainly didn't give up. He seems tenacious. And that seems the right thing to have been done.
> "I knew the importance of them straight away," said Mr Smith who has been prospecting for around 30 years.
> "It was just instinct. I'd read all about chariot burials and just wished it could have been me, so finding this has been a privilege."
The area has a long Celtic history. For readers unfamiliar perhaps with the UK or this part of the UK, some context: the stones in Stonehenge [0] were sourced from the Preseli Hills [1] several hundred kilometers away (in the part of Wales this site is).
Pembrokeshire is beautiful, and somewhat rugged. Rolling hills meet sandy beaches, equally meeting treacherous cliffs. As a child, I remember frequently climbing to the peak of an iron age settlement in the morning, sort-of mixing-in with the sheep left to roam there, then after lunch, a quite long walk down to the sandy beaches it overlooked. Trying to catch shrimp in the sandy pools the escaping tide left.
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stonehenge [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preseli_Hills
Re: Pembrokeshire treasure hunter unearths Celtic chariot
#9very cool find. archeologists also destroy a lot of evidence, and if they find anything that doesn't fit rpevious findings often either ignore it or are highly skeptical, which is why i assume he hd some trouble to convince this was an actual find, and had to ... dig a little deeper :D
> if they find anything that doesn't fit rpevious findings often either ignore it or are highly skeptical\
If they find something that doesn't fit previous findings, they publish on it and get tenure.
Re: Pembrokeshire treasure hunter unearths Celtic chariot
#10Earlier quoted context omitted.
But this guy was a hunter. There is a legal tension whenever a hunter finds the tip of what looks to be a big find. Should they hand it to experts, and let the experts make the further discoveries, or thouroughly document the site so they can claim the credit for each object found? There are normally negotiations, and silly theatrics whereby the original detectorist stands amongst the scientists, so they are seen to…
I can't fault the detectorists for wanting to be involved, it would be a real shame to discover something like this and then just hand it straight off to someone else the second things started to get interesting. A lot of these people are very passionate about history, any potential financial incentive might just be a secondary consideration.
In places like britain, or egypt, artifacts are literally everywhere. You cannot put a shovel in without hitting something. So, like it or not, history and science are not always the primary concern. Farmers want thier fields back asap. Teams need to move fast, often with only a single season of actual digging.