Major finds excavation fund

Mon Jul 05, 2021 9:01 pm

From the NCMD Facebook group

The National Council for Metal Detecting are delighted to announce that a Major Finds Excavation Fund is now in a place to help assist our members fortunate enough to uncover a major find. This fund will pay for an accredited, PAS recommended, archaeologist to perform the initial excavation of the findspot. It’ll help to preserve important archaeological information, whist reducing the period of time that the find may be vulnerable.

We have been working on this project for a considerable amount time and are quite excited at the prospect of it finally coming to fruition.

This fund has been developed with the full co-operation of the Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) and we are pleased to say that emergency out of hours contact numbers for a PAS to assist in organising help quickly are now in place.

The exact location of the findspot should only be given to the archaeologist who will attend the site to perform the excavation. The NCMD officer who takes your initial call will not ask you for the exact findspot. The officer will pass on your details to the archaeologist assigned to you, so you can offer directions.

For advice on what to do if you come across a major find and the full terms and conditions of the fund please see the ‘Detecting Advice’ section of our website. More information is also in Digging Deep which should be landing on your door mats very, very soon.

https://www.ncmd.co.uk/ncmd/announcing- ... tion-fund/

Pete E · Mon Jul 05, 2021 9:15 pm

My hats off to the NCMD! This is an incredibly positive development for the hobby and is very timely.....

Jamesey1981 · Mon Jul 05, 2021 9:23 pm

I spotted this on Facebook but only just got around to reading the extra detail on the site.

Really good idea, and I think it can only be a good thing.

I've never found anything that would have needed the service but I live in hope!

Tue Jul 06, 2021 6:19 am

Great initiative

It might be an idea to clarify what constitutes a "major" find though.

Blackadder43 · Tue Jul 06, 2021 10:35 am

Thats a great initiative and a great use of funds
Well done to all involved in setting that up for the detecting community and also the wider public who will undoubtedly benefit from it too

Steve RC · Tue Jul 06, 2021 10:39 am

Thanks for finally organising this initiative. It seems an age since i first brought this idea to the NCMD Ordinary General Meeting.

Hope it works and there are no issues.

Tue Jul 06, 2021 12:45 pm

figgis wrote: ↑Tue Jul 06, 2021 6:19 am Great initiative

It might be an idea to clarify what constitutes a "major" find though.

Hard to do as the potential range of finds that should qualify is hard to describe. Better to let people phone for advice rather than try and describe it in the guide, especially for those newer people who might not know what they’ve found but recognise it looks important. I think the NCMD and PAS would rather have more calls and get all the important finds that need excavating than less calls and miss one that should have been done professionally.

If that doesn’t work though I’m sure there’ll be a rethink.

Tue Jul 06, 2021 12:46 pm

Steve RC wrote: ↑Tue Jul 06, 2021 10:39 am Thanks for finally organising this initiative. It seems an age since i first brought this idea to the NCMD Ordinary General Meeting.

Hope it works and there are no issues.

It has taken over 2 years hasn’t it! It was a great idea Steve, thank you.

Steve RC · Wed Jul 07, 2021 10:33 am

Sadly it seems that a worthwhile initiative is being rubbished by a certain detractor. Still the inititive aims to involve professional archaeologists rather than detractors so all will be well.

Pete E · Wed Jul 07, 2021 1:08 pm

Only to be expected from that particular individual....

shaggybfc · Wed Jul 07, 2021 1:51 pm

My allotment needs a good dig, if I reported finding something nice, will you come and dig it over for me

Pete E · Wed Jul 07, 2021 2:42 pm

shaggybfc wrote: ↑Wed Jul 07, 2021 1:51 pm My allotment needs a good dig, if I reported finding something nice, will you come and dig it over for me

Shades of Fletcher in Porridge!

Wed Jul 07, 2021 5:34 pm

Steve RC wrote: ↑Wed Jul 07, 2021 10:33 am Sadly it seems that a worthwhile initiative is being rubbished by a certain detractor. Still the inititive aims to involve professional archaeologists rather than detractors so all will be well.

Why should anyone pay any attention to the opinion of an unqualified self-appointed "heritage guardian"? Not even the archaeological establishment listen to anything he floats westwards