Searching for Something: Dualisms in Metal Detecting

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Searching for something: dualisms in metal detecting

Jess Moorhouse

13084100

MSc Cultural and Social Anthropology (Visual)

Graduate School of Social Sciences

University of Amsterdam

Master thesis (Discussion Paper)

Supervisor: Milena Veenis

Word count: 6629

12th of March 2021 Amstelveen, the Netherlands Table of Contents

Plagiarism declaration ...... 2 Summary ...... 3 Searching for something: dualisms in metal detecting ...... 4 References ...... 20 Bibliography ...... 23

Plagiarism declaration

I have read and understood the University of Amsterdam plagiarism policy http://student.uva.nl/mcsa/az/item/plagiarism-and-fraud.html?f=plagiarism. I declare that this assignment is entirely my own work, all sources have been properly acknowledged, and that I have not previously submitted this work, or any version of it, for assessment in any other paper.

Signed,

Jess Moorhouse 12th of March 2021 Amstelveen, the Netherlands

Summary

Searching for something is my master’s thesis about metal detecting. I aim to understand the motivations behind the hobby and why detectorists are so passionate about this pastime.

My thesis is divided into two parts, and each part tackles the motivations behind metal detecting from a slightly different angle. This essay tries to answer the question ‘why metal detecting?’ and uses Daniel Miller’s concept of the dualism between transcendent and transient values to explain the paradoxes that make metal detecting so meaningful for its practitioners. I argue that the motivation for metal detecting is the search for something. ‘The search’ encompasses a relaxing, destressing sensorial experience with nature and the past which reflects transcendence. Transience is reflected in the possibility of ‘something’, the excitement and tension that detectorists feel while anticipating a find.

In my film I also argue that the motivation for metal detecting is the search for something, and touch on the anthropological concepts, but the focus of the film is an exploration into what it is to search for something. I reflect on my own process of learning how to be an anthropologist and on personal challenges I faced having to dig into a topic so deeply, while also exploring the parallel experience of metal detecting.

Searching for something: dualisms in metal detecting

Sitting in the middle of a freshly cut wheat field, digging in the dry soil searching for whatever piece of metal my borrowed metal detector indicated was there. The wheat is stabbing into my legs, I did not come in the appropriate clothing. I set my camera down to try and get some shots of me finding something, but it is hard to get the framing quite right, so I just leave it pointing vaguely in my direction. It is boiling in the sun. I think it is almost 34 degrees, or that’s what my weather app predicted when I checked while sitting on the train at 5am this morning. I’m frustrated and tired. I can feel the tension leave my body when I finally find what it was that was causing the detector to beep. But after closer inspection I find that it is only some lead. No one will be interested in hearing about my chunk of lead. I stay sitting for a while catching my breath, looking out at all the many people gathered in this field, contemplating what it is that draws them to this hobby and why I am here with them.

When picking topics for this master’s thesis I almost randomly stumbled upon metal detecting from a throwaway comment I made during a class. When doing this research, I was often asked the question ‘why metal detecting?’ by friends and detectorists who were wondering how I decided on such an uncommon topic and I never really had a good answer. I didn’t know exactly what brought me to the topic but maybe I unconsciously liked the idea of doing something exciting yet relaxing outdoors. But that question ‘why metal detecting’ ended up guiding my entire project. Why do people go metal detecting? Why this hobby? What about metal detecting makes it special and keeps people coming back day after day in the wind and rain? To answer that question, I first have to explain a little bit about the hobby.

Metal detecting is a hobby where people known as metal detectorists use machines that detect the presence of metal, called metal detectors, to search for metal. Metal detectors for public use started becoming widely available 1960s and the hobby has become increasingly popular since the 1990s (Thomas 2016) (Dobat et al 2020: 372). Additionally, some have suggested that the coronavirus pandemic may have led to an increase in the popularity of metal detecting as it was one of the few activities not impacted by any of the lockdowns (Schinkel 2020). Before becoming legal in July 2016, metal detecting was often

4 practiced in the Netherlands illegally but not often prosecuted (Vos et al. 2018: 13). Metal detecting is an international hobby, with people crossing borders to search in unique locations (Thomas 2016). Each country has its own metal detecting laws which change how detectorists practice the hobby. For this research project I have focused on a small group of Dutch detectorists who, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, have been confined to the Netherlands during the period of my fieldwork. According to the official data collection centre for small archaeological finds PAN (Portable Antiquities of the Netherlands), there are between three and seven thousand active metal detectorists in the Netherlands (PAN 2020), however some of my informants suggested that the active number of detectorists may be much larger.

Metal detecting is a largely, but not completely, male activity with estimates from the UK suggesting that around 90% of detectorist identify as male (Thomas 2012: 50) which aligns with the gender spread of my participants. In this essay I am choosing not to unpack the complexities of why metal detecting is a predominantly male activity. Gender in metal detecting is an enthralling topic. For example, recently there has been an increase of young attractive women who wear make-up and care about their appearance starting metal detecting Instagram accounts. In response some of my informants contacted me, incensed that their hobby was being corrupted by sex. To me this is fascinating, and to do the topic justice I think it should be left to fill an entirely new thesis and therefore is beyond the scope of this essay.

In the Netherlands there are separate terms for people who go metal detecting in different landscapes. Land and field metal detectorists are known as ‘akkerzoekers’. People who go metal detecting on the beach are ‘strandzoekers’. People who fish for metal in water with magnets are ‘magneetvissers’. People who specifically look for military items on old battle fields are known as ‘militariazoekers’. For my research I mostly spent time with ‘akkerzoekers’ and for the purpose of this essay this is the only type of metal detecting I will refer to. From here on I shall simply refer to ‘akkerzoekers’ as metal detectorists.

The majority of academic writing on metal detecting comes from an archaeological perspective. Archaeologists have written extensively about the ethics and legalities surrounding private individuals discovering and claiming ownership over what is viewed as

5 public heritage artefacts with polarising opinions on the topic and subsequently on metal detectorists themselves (Gundersen, Rasmussen and Lie 2016) (Ferguson 2016) (Thomas 2016). Traditionally metal detecting has been “vilified by many archaeologists as an uncontrollable threat to the proper study of the past” (Schriek and Schriek 2014: 240). “Some heritage practitioners and scholars seem to perceive all private artefact collecting and commerce as unsavoury, and all who engage in either or both as morally and ethically bankrupt” (Thomas and Pitblado 2020: 1060), and for a number of archaeologists the metal detector has become synonymous with looting (Connor and Scott 1998: 76). This extreme dislike of metal detectorists has been met with resistance from other researchers who argue that working with metal detectorists can be beneficial to archaeology (Thomas and Pitblado 2020).

Suzie Thomas, an archaeologist and one of the key writers in the field on hobbyist metal detectorists, is cited frequently when discussing detectoring. She did her PhD on the relationship between archaeologists and metal detector users (Thomas n.d.) and just last year co-authored an article summarising almost every academic account of metal detecting ever written even including unpublished PhDs (Thomas and Pitblado 2020). Although she has other areas of interest, metal detecting is something that has spanned her entire academic career. She is one of the driving voices in trying to get academia to listen and work with nonprofessional artefact searchers. One-way Thomas has done this is by arguing against the simplistic assumption that metal detectorists are only searching to make money. Thomas and Pitblado refer to this as re-nuancing motivations (2020: 1061). They argue that although motivations of artefact hunts are complex and diverse, the most common motivation is to have direct engagement with the past (ibid). The evidence supporting this statement comes from a survey Thomas did of British metal detectorists at metal-detecting rallies (2012). In the question about the motivation for metal detecting ‘interest in the past’ was the most popular answer with 54.4% of respondents claiming it was their reason for starting (ibid: 54).

What I found particularly notable about Thomas’s argument is the implied dichotomy between having an interest in the past which conflicts with an interest in making money, highlighted in the quote “the detecting community is not homogenous and while some detectorist may be motivated by a historical interest there is no doubt that some operate

6 for financial goals” (Deckers, Lewis and Thomas 2016: 427). Of course, it is possible to value money as well as history. One detectorist I met was very boastful about how much their collection cost. Although they kept most of their finds, they sold the most expensive items and were very proud of the amount of money they and their family had made while metal detecting and made the point that they could make even more if they chose to sell their entire collection. This detectorist had a keen interest in history, actively searching out good locations to find old items, but also had an interest in selling high ticket items. Their interest was not purely focused on money as they kept large collections of old coins and interesting historical artefacts. Therefore, I was surprised that Thomas’s counternarrative relies so strongly on the sole suggestion that metal detectorists are passionate about history instead of using any other arguments to deal with the negative stereotypes of metal detecting. It is as if valuing history is viewed as moral and good and valuing money is viewed as evil and bad and that these two ideals are completely opposing.

Yet, despite my surprise it turns out that the idea of money being anathema to morality, and subsequently history, is a dominant idea within ethnographic and theoretical debates. In an momentous volume on this topic, Money and the Morality of Exchange, anthropologists Maurice Bloch and Jonathan Parry argue that while money is accorded quite different meanings in different cultures, “for us money signifies a sphere of ‘economic’ relationships which are inherently impersonal, transitory, amoral and calculating” (1989: 9). By ‘for us’ they are referring to Western thinking and Bloch and Parry summarise how within Western discourse there has been a general condemnation of money going all the way back to Aristotle (Bloch and Parry 1989: 2-8). Aristotle argued that profit was unnatural (ibid: 2). St Paul warned that love of money was the root of all evil (ibid: 9). Writers such as Marx and Simmel argued that money promotes the growth of individualism and the destruction of solidary communities (Bloch and Parry 1989: 4). It is clear that money, and the desire for it, is seen as something negative and even immoral by many.

During my fieldwork I struggled with taking up space. I find it exceedingly difficult to be a bother and ask personal questions of people I do not already have a strong connection with. Due to the short three-month fieldwork period only at the end did I just began to form personal connections with some of my informants and I did not manage to get close enough to them to learn much about their lives external to metal detecting. Therefore, I do not

7 entire the discussion in to how these value systems, that I am exploring, relate to their specific everyday lives as my understanding of their values is mostly limited to the sphere of metal detecting.

While exploring detectorist perceptions of money and morality, I found that almost all of my informants made a clear and distinct opposition between money and history as motivations for metal detecting. A desire for money signals what I will call transience, and the wish to preserve history emanates transcendence. These two keywords and the dualism they create will be explained in detail later on. Within metal detecting money comes into play through the discussion of selling ones finds. Therefore, to find out how metal detectorists feel about money in metal detecting, I asked them if they ever sold their finds. Externally most people think money is important to metal detectorists; as noted earlier, there is a stereotype that metal detectorists only find objects to profit and may even sell objects illegally to make more money. However, most of the detectorists I met made it clear that they do not sell their finds and that money is not important to them.

There are many reasons why someone would not want to sell the objects they found, one of which is that the act of finding leads people to be personally engaged with the objects they collect. Finding something is similar to making it, which can make someone emotionally attached to items and never want to give them up. Although my experience of metal detecting is extremely limited, I can somewhat understand this feeling. I have amassed a small collection of scrap metal that I feel attached to because I found it. Although my collection is not very pretty or worth any money, I display it on my windowsill for all to see. I remember the arduous work I put into finding each item and am proud of that effort.

Another reason some detectorists do not want to sell items is that it is considered morally wrong. Detectorists are aware of stereotypes surrounding the hobby and do not want it to be perceived as an immoral hobby. As exemplified by my informant who was angry about the possibility of women bringing sex into metal detecting. To keep the hobby untainted, even if some detectorists do sell items, they might lie about it as to hide possible immorality. In a survey of British metal detectorists at metal-detecting rallies, Suzie Thomas reports that only 17.1% of respondents said they sold their finds (2012: 57). However, as it was a face to face survey, some respondents lied. A family member of one respondent who

8 had claimed to never sell finds told the interviewers that the respondent had actually sold artefacts to a collector at the very same event (ibid), indicating that there is some kind of taboo related to selling ones finds.

When I asked one detectorist if he ever sold his finds,1 he was visibly offended saying that he was not interested in money - only in history. Here he makes a clear distinction between a negative connotation with being interested in monetary value, and a positive connotation with being interested in history. This exemplifies a key dualism within metal detecting. My informant’s response aligns with Russell Belk’s discussion of collectors. As an academic researching marketing and consumers, Belk suggests that collectors assuage the guilt of being seen as materialistic by believing that their collecting activity performs an artistic or scientific service to humankind (1998: 10). This explains why the detectorist, when confronted with the possibility that they may have financial goals, denied it with his interest in history; in other words ‘bad’ financial motivation is contrasted with a ‘good’ and maybe even honourable hunt for history. My interlocutors as well as academics such as Thomas both use interest in the past to counteract negative stereotypes of metal detectorists. However, I am not suggesting that the interest in history is fake or forced in anyway. I will not treat detectorists apparent love of history as something else. The past was frequently discussed in my fieldwork amongst detectorists and I did not meet a single person who did not have some interest in finding old items. I am also not intending to diminish the importance of history for metal detecting. The past is definitely a significant and meaningful part of the hobby as it allows detectorists to have an active role in the production of local history.

On the other hand, I do think that history may be overrepresented as a motivation for metal detecting because it is so easy to use as a counternarrative to the negative perception of metal detecting, especially for archaeologists who already value history. While I do agree with Thomas that history is one of the most common motivations for metal detecting, it is not the only feature of the hobby that is shared amongst all detectorists. Being outdoors for example was always one of the first things detectorists spoke about when I asked them why

1 In this essay I include the names of detectorists who consented to being part of the film that I also made for this Masters, and for people who did not want to be in the film I also do not include their names in this essay.

9 they went metal detecting. However, the easiest and most common responses do not necessarily indicate the deeper intricacies of why people pick metal detecting as their hobby of choice. Throughout the rest of this essay I will suggest that history and a connection with the past is only a part of the whole encompassing transcendent as well as transient experience that makes metal detecting so special and why it is such an important hobby to so many people.

This essay will discuss the dualisms present in metal detecting and I will argue that both sides of this metal detecting coin are essential to the experience. I borrow the word and approach of “dualism” from Daniel Millers’ book Modernity – An Ethnographic Approach (1994). In this book Miller discusses the dualism that he sees as central to Trinidadian modernity and the way this is manifested through mass consumption (ibid). The two terms he uses to describe the fundamental tension of people’s dealings with what he calls the modern condition modernity are transcendence and transience (ibid). Transcendent values are about preservation, long-term roots and traditions that are deep and meaningful; for example, lasting happiness that is maintained for the future as opposed to the temporary thills found within transience. Transient values are event oriented and short-term focused on winning, spontaneity, individualism, and freedom (Miller 1994: 132-135).

Within the context of metal detecting transcendence represents a calm relaxing silent experience that is associated with memories of the past and preserving historical artifacts for the future. Transience on the other hand can be seen within the excitement, focus on value and the sometimes-competitive nature of the hobby. One of Millers arguments about this dualism is that, although transcendent and transient may be opposing, cultural practices act along a continuum from transcendence to transience. Each individual can at one moment express transcendence and in another moment express transience. Therefore, when I use dualism, I am primarily referring to two sides of a coin, as in something having the quality of being dual, rather than a Levi-Straussian idea of binary opposition. The idea of binary opposition is important as some aspects of metal detecting may seem to be paradoxical and contradictory but using Millers’ concepts I will suggest that in order to keep the metaphorical coin of metal detecting spinning you need both sides: transcendence and transience. My overall argument is that the motivation behind metal detecting is the search for something. 'The search’ is the repetitive relaxing experience of working hard while

10 searching, reflecting transcendence; whereas ‘something’ is the possibility, the excitement, thrill, competitiveness, which reflects transience. These two seemingly opposing aspects and the tension between them is what makes metal detecting so meaningful. Yet, my arguments are based on generalising insights due to the fact that during my fieldwork I often only acted as an observer and therefore cannot discuss in depth how these concepts relate to individual metal detectorists lives.

During my research I wanted to understand what it felt like to go metal detecting: the thoughts, feelings and experiences that encompass the practice. Through trying metal detecting myself and chatting with detectorists I discovered that metal detecting is an activity that utilises body and mind to their fullest extent. It is a physically exhausting activity that needs constant focus and attention. The practice of metal detecting allows detectorists to have a relaxing, destressing sensorial experience with nature and the past which embodies transcendent and transient values.

One aspect of transcendence is lasting happiness (Miller 1994: 212). I would argue that one way to maintain happiness is doing stress relieving, relaxing activities. When I set out to do my research, I had anticipated to find that metal detecting was a relaxing experience but the extent to which this was the case surpassed my expectations. On my very first day meeting metal detectorists face to face, I was walking through a muddy, freshly ploughed tulip field with an informant who was metal detecting and when I asked him why he enjoyed the hobby he told me that for him metal detecting was like meditation: relaxing and calming. This completely surprised me as my assumptions of male middle-aged Dutch detectorists did not include an interest in meditation. I brought up this idea of metal detecting being similar to meditation with other informants and was met with contrasting responses. For one detectorist in particular the idea was completely alien and they vehemently denied the similarities, seemingly offended that I had suggested their hobby was similar to meditation. However, they did acknowledge that metal detecting was relaxing.

Making a small tangent: it is interesting to note that this interlocutor was not part of the same metal detecting community as most of my other informants. I met her through my workplace instead of through the internet as I had almost everyone else and interestingly, she had vastly different opinions about metal detecting compared to the other detectorists I

11 spoke to. Therefore she is a useful reminder that most of my information comes from detectorists who know each other, at least in passing, and therefore may have more similar opinions to each other and that there could be vastly different ideas within other detecting groups in the Netherlands and especially in other countries. I would guess that, like me, the detectorists who disagreed with my proposition that metal detecting contained some form of meditation found the connotations of meditation jarring with the idea of metal detecting. Meditation is sometimes stereotyped as just sitting on the floor emptying the brain of thought while adopting a spiritual ancient tradition with possibly magical benefits (Kabat- Zinn 2018: 1). So, although some detectorists disagreed with the analysis that metal detecting is similar to meditation, they did say that it was relaxing. This indicates that their disapproval was more likely to do with stereotypes of meditation rather than contrasting the idea that metal detecting can be a calming and possibly mindful experience.

The comment from a detectorist that surprised me on my very first day ‘in the field’, both literally and figuratively, aligns with the findings from an article about British and Danish metal detectorists with mental health impairments. The article was written by five academics from different departments including archaeology, cultural and social studies, and psychology, and was based on an online survey of 42 participants. They argue that metal detecting is perceived to be relaxing and anti-stressful because of the meditative, monotonous, sensory experience (Dobat et al. 2020). The respondents in their survey emphasised how metal detecting engaged the bodies entire sensory apparatus while also shutting out both internal and external disturbances, which helps them to feel less anxious (Dobat et al. 2020: 378). Something else I had not anticipated before starting fieldwork is that metal detecting is physically demanding. Walking while carrying the detector means using muscles in the entire body, and can be quite exhausting. Detectorists also need experience and concentration to pay attention to the specific sounds the detector is imitating. The audio cues and signal readings on the detector indicate what the depth, size or material a find might be. The rhythm and repetition of detecting is interrupted by signals that indicate if something is “worth digging for” (ibid). In this moment there is the possibility of finding something amazing. Focus is solely on the detector, the sounds and the ground in front of them. Thus, metal detecting can be seen as an all-encompassing practise, giving participants limited time to think or let their thoughts wander (ibid). Metal detecting uses

12 the mind and body and therefore is a good distraction from any anxieties. The article suggests that “this highly uniform and meditative movement is one of the reasons why practitioners, and in particular people suffering from PTSD or anxiety disorders, feel that metal detection is anti-stressful and relaxing” (Dobat et al. 2020: 379). This article excellently explains how metal detecting can be beneficial for creating lasting happiness as it can be used to reduce stress, which is an example of the transcendent aspects of metal detecting.

Fishing is also known for being a relaxing hobby. During fieldwork I discovered one of my detectorist interlocutors also regularly went fishing. I asked him to compare the two hobbies. He said they were quite similar and referred to what I call transience, the excitement and possibility of at the end of the day coming home with ‘a big fish or a nice coin’. There are also other similarities between fishing and metal detecting, for one the physical relationship with the natural environment. All the detectorists I interviewed spoke of their love of nature just as much as they talked about their passion metal detecting machines.

Franklin argues that the underlying attraction to hunting and fishing is the possibility of a highly sensualised intimate and exciting relationship with the natural world (2001: 58). Macnaghten and Urry argue, in their discussion of “western social thought and culture” (1998: 109), that a sensual relationship with the natural world has been replaced by touristic relations with nature where visual is the only sense remaining (1998: 109-125). Examples of this include plans to minimise environmental damage which renders anything other than the gaze problematic: picking wildflowers, making off track forays, disturbing rocks; which all minimise visitors experience of both touch and taste (Franklin 2001: 66). Additionally, animals are driven off by large numbers of people, so the sound of songbirds is limited (ibid). Macnaghten and Urry make a convincing point about our increasingly visually biased relationship with nature. This article was published before apps such as Instagram became key in changing how some people view the world. I would argue that we are now even more heavily reliant on a visual experience of nature than when this article was published. Franklin argues that, unlike most people who have a surface level touristic relationship with nature, hunters and anglers have a very sensual experience with nature (2001: 66).

Furthermore, while smell, touch and hearing have been side-lined in contemporary society, particularly in the sensing of nature, hunting and angling hone these skills (ibid).

Similarly, metal detecting is also an intensely sensorial experience. One of the sensations that I enjoyed most while metal detecting was getting close to the ground and physically prodding through the dirt, feeling the soil between my fingers. Most detectorists wear gloves and I eventually bought some, but in that moment, it reminded me of being a child playing in the garden. Detectorists have a much more intimate experience with nature than most passers-by. They go out in all weathers, dig through the ground, smell the soil, walk off the beaten path and sometimes find themselves in places only farmers frequent. In the fields far away from the road, the songs of birds are easily heard. While with a group of detectorists we would spend hours upon hours detecting every piece of land instead of skirting nervously around its edges (Franklin 2001: 75) like some of the passers-by and dog walkers that patronised the same areas do. Metal detecting encompasses duality: while detectorists love to discuss their technological machines and compare models, they also appreciate the sensorial relationship with nature that metal detectoring offers. In addition to having such a close relationship with nature detectorists also have an intimate experience with the past.

As discussed earlier, invoking the past is central to the practice of metal detecting. One of the topics that initially drew me to metal detecting was the idea that metal detectorists experience history in a unique way. While researching, I discovered that metal detectorists do not just experience history in one way: different aspects of the hobby lead to different ways of connecting with the past. The initial connection with history happens in the field through senses and imagination. While watching YouTube videos about metal detecting I saw detectorists speculate who may have held an item and imagined the stories surrounding how each item was once used and eventually lost. While in the field with a detectorist I saw a nice example of this when my informant Daniël found a compass, the type used for drawing circles, and immediately started mimicking how it would have been used. Through touch, detectorists can physically connect with items that otherwise would sit behind glass in a museum, giving them an intimate relationship with artefacts that is unavailable to most. The imaginative and transcendent experience can be further enhanced through senses other than sight and touch, for example objects that still have moving parts

14 or the ability to make sounds like a bell or whistle. An interview with a detectorist in a newspaper described first listening to the sound of a whistle as “like hearing a ghost” (Leszkiewicz 2017) which is a beautifully poetic way to describe the feeling of finding artefacts untouched for decades.

Anthropologist Matt Hodges discusses his fieldwork in which he interviewed French villagers who reflected on the period in the 1970s when the entire village got caught up in a craze searching for old fragments of pottery in local rivers (2013). Hodges argues that this period created a historical consciousness within the community and classifies two different modes of invoking the past. The first mode he refers to as initial encounter was through bodily senses and “the past was invoked through the discovery, handling, and imaginative contemplation of pottery fragments” (Hodges 2013: 493). In my findings detectorists imagined the past when they found an item, whereas in Hodges findings he suggests that pottery hunters thought about the past while searching, through the hunt they imagined who could have dropped this item (ibid: 495).

When reflecting on Hodges article I realised that detectorists do imagine the past before they find an item, but in a slightly different way. Before even starting a search, detectorists meticulously plan out the area they will search in. They try and find locations they consider to be ‘old’. In the Netherlands there is certainly land that can be considered new, however people do not often distinguish between the other areas that are geographically the same age. When in a seemingly normal forest, one detectorist told me to always listen to low signals (different types of metals give different readings on the detector) as it could be gold since we were on such old land. Forests always give off an aura of oldness - it takes a very long time to grow a forest - but what about this specific forest made it ‘old’? In the language of detectorists old land is land where one could find old things. Places where people were around a long time ago. Dutch detectorists use the website www.topotijdreis.nl to look at old maps to find good places to search. The ideal site is somewhere that had a lot of activity in the past but not so much recently. There you are more likely to find old objects without finding as much contemporary rubbish. Metal detecting changes ones understanding of the landscapes based on the kind of objects one finds there. Detectorists imagine the past through their planning before searches. The past and history are very central to the experience of metal detecting and the ways detectorists view the world around them. It is

15 certainly possible that detectorists also imagine the past while in the field hunting for objects, but I did not find evidence for that in my short three-month research project.

The other main way detectorists engage with the past happens after the search. Hodges refers to this as the secondary expression of the past and it takes place once someone has found an item (2013: 492). Hodges gives two examples of secondary expression. For some of Hodges pottery hunters the secondary mode of invoking was predominantly a social activity, gathering together to discuss ones finds (Hodges 2013: 496). During my fieldwork I focused quite strongly on the social aspects of metal detecting because when writing my research proposal, I could not find any other academic literature on this specific topic. I discovered that metal detectorists have highly varied opinions on detecting in the company of others. Some detectorists I met only searched with friends. A detectorist I met named Ben would always go and show his friend Dirk his objects whenever he found anything. For Ben at least the secondary mode of invoking the past happened almost exclusively with Dirk as he learnt about his objects through the knowledge of his friend. But for other detectorists I met, metal detecting was seen as a completely solitary experience and being with other people would ruin the atmosphere. I tried to go metal detecting with a colleague of mine, but he refused as he wanted to focus on the sounds of the detector and found other people’s presence distracting. Some of my informants enjoyed both being alone and searching with friends. Annemiek eloquently described her thoughts on the social aspects of metal detecting:

Well I like to go alone…, to clear your thoughts and be one with nature. But going with friends is also fun because it is gezellig, and you can quickly share your finds with each other and see who found something. That way you can also learn from each other, that’s another thing that’s fun about going together. So actually, I like both. (translated from Dutch)

Her quote exemplifies the secondary expression of the past as she learns more about the items she finds through discussion with fellow detectorists.

The large spectrum of opinions I found is also reflected in the survey results from the article by Dobat et al. (2020). They also state that compared to the unanimously positive responses to other themes in the survey (history, nature, de-stressing and exercise), the social aspect of metal detecting was the most polarising, with some of their informants strongly agreeing that they like to meet with others and some strongly disagreeing (Dobat et al. 2020: 374- 375). What Dobat et al miss in their research is what happens after detectorists leave the field. For the detectorists I spoke to, even if they like to be alone in the field, they still want to talk about their finds with others afterwards. The detectorist who refused to let me join him in the field would often come to work with pictures of all the new exciting objects he found on the weekend. In Annemiek’s response, the keyword in reference to sharing is ‘quickly’ because even if she is not searching with others, she will always share her finds with people through YouTube, Instagram or Facebook. The secondary expression of the past through discussion with friends or fellow detectorists was important to every detectorist I met whether it was in the field or later online.

Hodges’ other example of the secondary expression of invoking the past is through further study and research of their finds (2013: 493). The detectorists I spoke to spent significant amounts of time researching their finds, mostly using the internet - although one retired detectorist I interviewed, Bert, had a large collection of metal detecting books and magazines that he had used to research his finds before the internet had become widely available.

Central to transcendent values is preservation. In Miller’s book, he gives examples of Trinidadians preserving flowers and protecting furniture with plastic coverings (1994: 212). The detecting version of this is the care and attention detectorists put into the storage and preservation of finds. Detectorists take immense pride in the conservation of their artefacts. When interviewing detectorists about keeping finds in the best condition they spoke harshly and critically of people who did not put enough research or thought in to keeping objects in the best condition. Metal detectorists take pride in their hobby. Preserving items is seen as an honourable activity which circles back to my earlier discussion on money versus history. This pride can also be seen in how physically taxing the activity is. Detectorists work hard to do an activity that is viewed by them as socially good (the collecting and preserving of artefacts) which exemplifies transcendent values (Miller 1994). Therefore when a young

17 detectorist called me a ‘good woman’ for joining in with his activity he was predominantly referring to the fact I was doing something he considered ‘good’ and my gender was relevant because women are a minority within the metal detecting community (Thomas 2012: 50). Metal detecting is a ‘good’ activity and women who do it are also ‘good’.

Metal detecting encompasses duality: it is a past and future focused activity. Detectorists look back at the past but are also always anticipating the possibility of finding something in the future. Thus far I have mostly discussed the transcendent experience of searching: the relaxing, destressing, sensorial experience with nature and the past. But the transient, future focused nature of metal detecting is equally essential. Spontaneity is central to transience (Miller 1994: 192) and the spontaneity and unexpected excitement is the thrill that keeps detectorists hunting for more. Surprise is exciting (Franklin 2001: 70) and in metal detecting there is always surprise. To be surprised you must not always succeed, which is why Franklin argues that failure is an important part of the hunting experience (ibid). Without failure there would be less tension and the release of success less pleasurable. The possibility of success keeps detectorists searching, for each failure there is always a chance of success. Tension is essential because without it there could be no success. Tension is epitomised by ‘the hunt’. Metal detectorists told me they ‘do not want to give up’. The hunt in search for success is a relaxing activity but still has tension because of the possibility of success and failure. Within the collecting community, ‘treasure tales’ evoke the ‘thrill of the hunt’ as a metaphor for collecting, which shows how for collectors the hunt and the thrill of possibility is essential to what they consider collecting to be (Belk 1998: 11). Similarly, Dahles argues that for game hunters in the Netherlands the ‘thrill of the hunt’ is what makes the activity pleasurable (1993). The ‘thrill’ is the challenge. Hunters ascribe traits of cunning and skill to their prey, as it is no fun shooting defenceless animals (Dahles 1993: 177). Therefore, the hunters are more skilled and more cunning as they manage to outwit their prey. While hunters feel pleasure for defeating their prey, detectorists feel pride in their perseverance and patience. Eventual success is fulfilling and keeps detectorists going back for more. Metal detecting is relaxing but it can also be thrilling and exciting. You can only search if there is the possibility of finding something. In response to a question about what she enjoyed about the hobby, my informant Annemiek said ‘for me it is total relaxation. But at the same time tension, about what you will get from the ground’. Her

18 response highlights the core duality of metal detecting: the relaxation and the tension. The two sides to the metal detecting coin.

While anthropology is about local specificity, due to my challenges forming deep connections with my informants, through being scared to take up space, I have opted for a more generalising discussion of theorical insights which portrays my understanding of this hobby. So why metal detecting? It is distinctively dualistic and seemingly paradoxical. But the contradictory nature of metal detecting is precisely what makes it a fulfilling activity. My overall argument as to why metal detecting is a compelling hobby can be summarised by the YouTube video, recommended to me by my informant Bert, titled ‘Relaxing Hunts, Exciting Finds!’ (TerraGermania 2020). Metal detecting is relaxation but always with the possibility of finding exciting things. The motivation behind metal detecting is the search for something. The experience of searching, being surrounded by nature and experiencing it sensorially, either searching with friends or enjoying the silence of solitude, connecting with the past; while also always having the possibility of finding something - something amazing, something historical, or just finding something. These two factors, ‘the search’ and ‘the possibility of something’, are what I think make up the main motivators behind metal detecting. In this essay I have aimed to represent all the dualisms within the hobby. I have illustrated the transient and transcendent, the tension and relaxation, the money and morality, the future and past, the nature and technology, the social and solitary.

References

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