More than Treasure Hunting: The Motivations and Practices of Metal Detectorists and their Attitudes to Landscape Felicity Mary Beatrice Winkley Dissertation submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Institute of Archaeology, University College London 1 DECLARATION I, Felicity Mary Beatrice Winkley confirm that the work presented in this thesis is my own. Where information has been derived from other sources, I confirm that this has been indicated in the thesis. Felicity Winkley 2 ABSTRACT This thesis aims to consider how attachment to landscape is generated, and investigates how this might be enacted via metal detecting, in order to better understand the attitudes of metal detectorists searching today. Metal detecting is a unique way of experiencing the historic landscape, allowing amateurs to access heritage hands-on, locating and unearthing their own fragment of the archaeological record. With an estimated 15,000 people currently detecting in the UK, and 1,111,122 objects recorded to date on the Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) database, a huge expanse of England’s historic places are being walked, searched and mapped. Using original quantitative and qualitative data, this study investigates the attitudes of metal- detector users in England and Wales in order to better understand what proportion feel attached to the landscape on which they detect, and what impact this attachment might have upon their feelings towards discovered objects, the historic past, and their general practice. The popularity of metal detecting, along with the unique situation that this country’s legislation accommodates it, demands the heritage sector moves toward creative decision- making and programming if it is to offer adequate protection to the archaeological resource whilst also engaging a community of interested participants. By using a range of methodologies, this thesis breaks new ground by demonstrating the sense of responsibility felt by detectorists towards their local landscapes, safeguarding them and maintaining an accurate record. The resultant PAS database has proven to be a valuable resource for both researchers and professionals, instigating 87 PhD theses and 15 major projects. This work would not have been possible without the cooperation of detectorists who, as a group, often feel marginalised and unappreciated. By contrast, data presented herein demonstrates that the conscientious detecting community is a constituency no less valid than the country’s local history societies, and one with a significant contribution to make towards a more complete understanding of the English landscape. 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 7 LIST OF TABLES 9 LIST OF CHARTS 11 SECTION 1 INTRODUCTION, LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL FRAMEWORKS Chapter 1. Introduction 15 1.1. Introduction and Research Questions 15 1.2. Background to the Research 17 1.3. Structure of the Thesis 18 Chapter 2. Pastfinding: The Growth of Metal Detecting and an Analysis of the Reaction from the Heritage Sector 20 2.1. The Emergence of Metal Detecting 20 2.2. The STOP Campaign and Beyond 27 2.3. The Development of the Treasure Bill and the Treasure Act 1996 29 2.4. In Pursuit of a Recording Scheme 33 2.5. The Portable Antiquities Scheme Today 35 2.5.1. Funding Challenges and Achieving National Coverage 35 2.5.2. Measuring Impact: The Clark Report 40 2.5.3. The PAS Database and Other Public Access Innovations 44 2.5.4. The Last Five Years: Headline Finds and the Need to Review the Treasure Act 47 Chapter 3. ‘On the Map’: Metal detecting and landscape 53 3.1. What is ‘Landscape’? 53 3.2. Value of Landscape 56 3.2.1. Aesthetic Value 59 3.2.2. Biographical Value and Locality 62 3.3. Temporality of Landscape 63 3.4. Memory of Landscape 64 3.5. Perception of Landscape 68 3.6. Experience of Landscape 71 3.7. Sense of Place and Generation of Attachment to Landscape 73 3.8. Applying Theory to Method: Phenomenology in Practice 76 4 SECTION 2 RESEARCH METHODS, DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS Chapter 4. Research Methods 81 4.1. Introduction 81 4.2. Methodologies and Limitations 82 4.3. The Questionnaire Survey 83 4.4. The Go-Along Lifeworld Interviews 86 Chapter 5. Detecting Today: Results of the Questionnaire Survey 94 5.1. Introduction 94 5.2. Analysis of the Questionnaire Survey 95 5.2.1. Section A: Classificatory Data 95 5.2.2. Section B: ‘When do you detect?’ 103 5.2.3. Section C: ‘Where do you detect?’ 108 5.2.4. Section D: ‘Your favourite findspot’ 111 5.2.5. Section E: ‘Recording and metal detecting conduct’ 119 5.3. Conclusion 126 Chapter 6. In the Landscape: The Go-Along Interviews and Qualitative Data Analysis 128 6.1. Participants 128 6.2. Inductive Analysis and Coding Strategy 134 6.3. Thematic Results 140 6.3.1. Theme A: Personal 140 6.3.2. Theme B: Landscape 149 6.3.3. Theme C: Hobby 160 6.4. Participant Profiling 179 6.5. Conclusion 181 SECTION 3 DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS Chapter 7. The Future of Metal Detecting and The Implications for our Heritage 184 7.1. Discussion: Reflections on the Methodology 184 7.1.1. The Relationship between the Questionnaire and the Interviews 186 7.1.2. Evaluating Reliability and Validity 186 5 7.2. More than Treasure Hunting 188 7.3. ‘Serious Leisure’ and Citizen Archaeologists 191 7.4. Managing Increasing Popularity and Public Interest 197 7.5. Communication and Engagement 200 7.5.1. Recommendations for Future Engagement 204 7.6. Future-Proofing Treasure and the PAS 205 7.7. Unresolved Issues: Nighthawking and Rallies 211 7.7.1. Nighthawking 212 7.7.2. Metal Detecting Rallies 215 7.8. Maintaining Accessibility 218 Chapter 8. Conclusion 222 8.1. Answering the Research Questions 222 8.2. Recommendations 225 8.3. Areas for Future Research 229 8.4. Final Conclusions 231 REFERENCES 233 APPENDICES Appendix 1. Metal Detecting and Landscape Questionnaire 249 Appendix 2. Metal Detecting Clubs Active March 2012 256 Appendix 3. National Council of Metal Detecting Code of Conduct 263 6 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Figure 1: Professor Guitton’s 1919 “Alpha” detector (Honoré 1919, 416) 21 Figure 2: The Middleham Jewel 25 Figure 3: Council for Kentish Archaeology poster (Fletcher 1978, 15) 27 Figure 4: PAS funding sources 1997 - 2009 (Clark 2008, 11) 38 Figure 5: The falling cost for recording items on the PAS database (Pett 2010, 3) 45 Figure 6: Staffordshire Hoard - ‘cheek piece, fittings and zoomorphic mount’ - 47 retrieved from the Scheme Flickr page under Creative Commons licence Figure 7: The reconstructed Crosby Garrett helmet on the cover of the Christie’s 50 sales catalogue Figure 8: Jacob van Ruisdael, Landscape with Waterfall (c. 1660) 54 Figure 9: Typology of landscape values (Brown and Weber 2012, 318). 59 Figure 10: Memory map of Salamah. The caption reads “Salamah in the year 65 1948 as remembered by some of its people” (Slyomovics 1998, 8) Figure 11: An aerial view of the Avebury monumental landscape 67 Figure 12: Basic environmental perception paradigm, after Lowenthal (1967) 69 Figure 13: Extended environmental perception paradigm, after Punter (1982) 69 Figure 14: Basic contact and the awareness continuum (Seamon 1979, 115) 71 Figure 15: Basic paradigm of sense of place towards generating attachment 74 Figure 16: Map representing distribution of interviewees and questionnaire 90 respondents Figure 17: An interviewee metal detecting, January 2013 93 Figure 18: Map representing number and geographical distribution of 109 respondents Figure 19: Map representing number and geographical distribution of respondent 110 metal detecting clubs Figure 20: Map representing geographical distribution of go-along interviewees 129 Figure 21: Classificatory data and supporting comments on the twelve go-along 133 interviewees Figure 22: Comment on one of Interviewee (J)’s YouTube videos 142 Figure 23: Club display stand at North Kent ploughing match September 2013 143 Figure 24: Interview C: the Thames foreshore November 2012 146 7 Figure 25: Interview K: field overlooking the River Dart May 2014 151 Figure 26: Interview E: field with deer December 2012 158 Figure 27: Interview K: serviceman bracelet article Treasure Hunting June 2014 162 Figure 28: Interview I: sketched map of findspot data 164 Figure 29: Interview G: GIS map of findspot data with proposed Roman road 165 Figure 30: Interview A: flint arrowhead and display case of flints brought to 172 interview site Figure 31: Comment about search technique on one of Interviewee (J)’s 176 YouTube videos Figure 32: Mudlarking on the Thames foreshore November 2012 189 Figure 33: An example ‘self-recorded’ find, identified by the prefix ‘PUBLIC’ 195 Figure 34: The Seaton Hoard in situ November 2013 200 Figure 35: Excavating at Ipplepen 203 Figure 36: Number of treasure cases 1988 - 2004 (Bland 2005b, 262) 207 Figure 37: The Staffordshire Hoard, valued at £3.285 million 209 Figure 38: Nighthawking survey open letter 214 Figure 39: Rally UK Irthlingborough charity rally, 21 August 2011 216 Figure 40: Metal detector licence, 12 October 1979 219 8 LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Table comparing PAS data, before and after website redesign 2009-2010 46 Table 2: Table detailing the date and location of the twelve go-along interviews 91 Table 3: Table representing the median number of years respondents have 99 detected and been club members Table 4: Table representing the organisation of respondents recording with the 102 PAS Table 5: Table representing the age of respondents against how often they metal 104 detect Table 6: Table representing the cross-tabulation of respondents’ club 105 membership against