'Diggers' Rubs MT Arkies the Wong Way

"Montana's state archaeologist said a Montana duo of metal detector artifact hunters featured in a new National Geographic television program appear to have violated state law.

He isn't the only one upset by the content of the show 'Diggers,' which featured Anaconda-area residents Tim Saylor and George Wyant. The show has also become the focus of Facebook petitions and write-in campaigns to the channel criticizing the show's content.

The first episode of the 'Diggers,' called 'Montana Juice,' was filmed at the Old Montana Prison, a state-owned property in Deer Lodge."

Read more HERE.

If the two fellows names sound familiar, they were mentioned in a post here from July of last year.

Do you agree with Archaeologists? How do you feel about these new hobby related programs.

FL Arkies Against 'American Diggers'

"'American Digger,' the TV show featuring a former pro wrestler and his team digging up historical treasures is entertainment, says the show’s spokeswoman.

'We don’t encourage any digging on federal or state lands,' said spokeswoman Shana Tepper for Spike TV, the producers of the show. 'It is only on private property' and done within the boundaries of the law, including the site in downtown St. Augustine that will be featured in an upcoming show.

'If you watch the show, you’ll see (host) Ric (Savage) going from door-to-door getting permission,' she added."

Read more HERE.

On a side note, at the end of the article it outlines many of the laws regarding our hobby in FL, in particular the St. Augustine area.

How do you feel about the ethics in the show and how they portray folks in the like-mind?

MDing Damages Mammoth Sites? SB105

Yes folks, we've now heard it all. Apparently our machines now detect mammoth bones... not sure what they show up as on the VDI, but I'd bet it's somewhere just inside the BS range.

"Legislation that would allow people to use metal detectors in state parks and monuments has some concerned it could put historic sites at risk for damage.

Some who oppose Senate Bill 105 fear it might open the floodgates for amateurs digging up artifacts at Big Bone Lick State Park in Boone County, which is famed for its bones of extinct mammoths, sloths and other large mammals.

State Sen. Dan Seum, R-Fairdale, introduced the bill, which passed the Senate this week 20-16, and awaits approval in the House. Seum did not return messages seeking comment this week on why he introduced the bill."

Read more HERE.

Miffed Arkies Due To 'Digger' and 'American Diggers'

"Historic artifacts can bring in big bucks. Show likes 'Diggers' on the National Geographic channel or Spike TV's 'American Diggers' document the hunt for prized artifacts.

But some archaeologists are standing up against these shows. They say the techniques used on the shows to dig up artifacts ends up destroying more history. They also feel these artifacts should be preserved, not dug up for profit.

With his metal detector by his side Robert Compton has uncovered dozens of Civil War artifacts.

'I've uncovered everything from mini balls, to cannon balls, buttons, bullets, buckles,' said Compton."

Read more HERE.

A nice video is aired with the news article on the jump!

Just more arkies in an uproar regarding these shows... share your thoughts by commenting below!

Seneca - Early 19th Century Central park

"For more than a decade, anthropologists and historians pieced together the history of a short-lived African-American community that was snuffed out in the 1850s by the creation of Central Park. They combed vital records and tax documents, scanned parkland using radar and studied soil borings.

But because the vestiges of the community were buried beneath the park, the leaders of the Institute for the Exploration of Seneca Village History — a consortium of three professors from City College, Columbia University and New York University — were kept from doing the one thing that would open a window onto the daily existence of the some 260 residents: digging.

That all changed eight weeks ago, after they won permission from the city to excavate in an area of the park near 85th Street and Central Park West."

Read more HERE.
And HERE.

Image Credit: Fred R. Conrad / The New York Times

Marlyand Union POW Camp

"Volunteer archaeologists are descending on leafy Lafayette Square in West Baltimore this weekend in an effort to uncover relics from Camp Hoffman, a Union army encampment that stood there during the Civil War.

Just hours into the project Friday, while dodging rain showers and swarms of June bugs, the diggers had already turned up fragments of mid-19th-century tableware and decorative wrought iron, nails, birdshot and even a piece of an old pocket watch.

'We popped down on stuff right away, which I didn't expect. And it's definitely 19th-century stuff,' said Charlie Hall, terrestrial archaeologist with the Maryland Historical Trust."

Read more HERE.

Rediscovering a UK Cemetery

An interesting story that involves a largely taboo and unethical practive in the US. However, under the correct authority, a lot of good can come from it.

"...

As the project nears completion, council's Health and Regulation Committee chair Andrew Antoniolli said the volunteers had made many interesting discoveries along the way.

Some of the finds include forgotten graves at the Ipswich General Cemetery, the second oldest cemetery in Queensland, with evidence of burials from the 1840s.

'Grave locations previously unknown to Council have now been found as volunteers using metal detectors located a number of metal grave pegs buried just below the surface,' Cr Antoniolli said."

Read more HERE.

Image Credits: Sarah Harvey / The Queensland Times

MD Group Teams Up with Archaelogists

"Students from all over the country are gathering on the grounds of the Brunswick Town/Fort Anderson historic site in Winnabow for an archaeological dig.

Peace College Archaeological Field School is conducting a project aimed at mapping Civil War barracks and learning more about life for the troops who battled their way through Southeastern North Carolina in the 1860s."

Read more HERE.

Image Credit: WECT

Religious Medieval Gold

"A medieval ring unearthed by a Pendle treasure-hunter in Kirkby Lonsdale has been described as the ‘find of a lifetime’.

Archaeology enthusiast Craig Scott was on a rare trip out with his metal detector when he found a silver 14th century ring in just six inches of soil in a field.

Engraved with the letters ‘IESUS’, two clasped hands and a five point star, experts say the ring is an extremely rare find."

Read more HERE.

NOTE: Image not of actual ring, but one of similar style and inscription.

William Clark Canoe Camp

"River crossings and lousy weather didn’t dampen the spirits of an intrepid corps of Montana State University Billings students searching for traces of William Clark along the Yellowstone River.

The students in history professor Tom Rust’s Historical Archaeology in the Americas class have been hunting for the camp where Clark and his band of explorers stopped for five nights in July 1806 to make canoes from lofty cottonwood trees along the banks.

On a recent wet, chilly day, seven students and Rust crossed a short stretch of the Yellowstone to a privately owned island in search of Clark’s canoe camp."

Read more HERE.

Image Credits: David Grubbs / Billings Gazette

More UK Treasure Tension

"When friends Michael Darke and Keith Lewis unearthed a hoard of Iron Age gold coins, it should have been one of the greatest moments of their lives.

But the pair are no longer on speaking terms following a dispute over how the £300,000 spoils of the so-called Dallinghoo Gold should be shared.

The 840 pieces, which date back to the first century BC, are one of the most significant archaeological discoveries of their kind for 150 years."

Read more HERE.

Image Credits: Albanpix

UK Media Encouraging "Plunderers"?

"A new television series describing the exploits of metal-detecting Britons has come under fire from archaeologists fearful that it will encourage treasure hunters who can damage ancient sites.

The British Museum has become embroiled in the controversy after opening its archives to the programme-makers and providing expert help.

Diana Friendship-Taylor, the chair of Rescue, otherwise known as the British Archaeological Trust, said: "We are, frankly, astonished, that the British Museum is prepared to lend its considerable weight..."

Read more HERE.

Image Credits: Getty Images

Fort Lincoln - Larkspur, CO

From the Denver Daily

"Recently the Jellystone Park Camp-Resort in Larkspur uncovered a historic fort on its ground, Fort Lincoln, also known as the People's Fort. Fort Lincoln was built in response to the Sand Creek Massacre on Nov. 29, 1864. Jellystone Park owner Ian Steyn along with a team of archaeologists, surveryors, metal detector professionals, members of the Colorado Historical Society and the community will come together at 9:30 a.m. April 2, 2011 at the campground to continue their work in uncovering the fort and formally reporting the findings. Steyn plans to rebuild and recreate the fort to provide the community with an important part of Colorado's history."

"Daniel C. Oakes builds Fort Lincoln (People’s Fort) for the protection of settlers from Indian uprisings. 30 families lived there 6 months."

Image above actually of Fort Collins.

Bronze Age Finds Brings Together Hobbyists and Archeologists

"A hoard of 3,000-year-old Bronze Age artifacts including axe heads and spear tips has been unearthed in a field in Essex, England, archaeologists said.

Archaeologists also found an intact pottery container with heavy contents and removed it from the dig site undisturbed and unopened for later analysis, the BBC reported Sunday.

The finds, taken to a local museum for examination, will offer new insights into Bronze Age Britain, experts said."

Read more as well as watch the video HERE.

Image credits: BBC

MD'ing Colonial Virginia

"A few years ago Jerome Traver, archaeologist for York River State Park, did a random test dig at a site. He found nothing.

But after obtaining a 5-year permit to do more digging this year, he decided to check the same area again. This time he used a metal detector. The difference was startling.

Traver uncovered a previously undocumented fortified complex with a double palisade wall, bastions and redoubts dating to 1676. Inside the complex were several structures, including a barn and a house.

'You’re not always going to find them with random testing,' he said.

With the help of a sole volunteer, Traver has so far conducted 460 shovel tests using the metal detector. He found artifacts at every dig."

Read more HERE.

College Thesis Leads to Confederate Find

"Preserved for nearly 150 years, perhaps by its own obscurity, a short-lived Confederate prison camp began yielding treasures from the Civil War almost as soon as archeologists began searching for it in southeastern Georgia.

They found a corroded bronze buckle used to fasten tourniquets during amputations, a makeshift tobacco pipe with teeth marks in the stem, and a picture frame folded and kept after the daguerreotype it held was lost.

Georgia officials say the discoveries, announced Wednesday, were made by a 36-year-old graduate student at Georgia Southern University who set out to find Camp Lawton for his thesis project in archaeology."

Read more HERE.
Read even more HERE.

Image Credits: Suzanne Oliver / Georgia Southern University