The Dvrobrivae Project August 2007
Detectorists at Water Newton Rally
A detailed report on the Water Newton rally can now be accessed on Scribd here
Background
Circumstances (i.e. That old devil called work!) have stopped me dead in my tracks as far as getting out and about detecting for a number of months now - so when I was given the opportunity to work alongside Badger and his team at the recent Water Newton rally I jumped at the chance to be involved.
Badger (David Connolly) had been invited to work alongside rally organiser Norman Smith to help ensure the rally went ahead in the face of opposition from a number of groups including the local county archaeological unit. To say they had to fight tooth and nail to achieve this would be an understatement.
Badger submitted a comprehensive project design detailing the way in which the archaeological team would record finds in the field using GPS, identification of the finds made at the rally and what would happen going forward including publication of the records made.
The archaeological team was made up of Badger and his partner Maggie, a troupe of young lady students from Newcastle University, a host of Portable Antiquities Scheme staff as well as other helpers.
The actual site of the rally was held in the small village of Chesterton - a short distance from Water Newton and the site of Roman Dvrobrivae.
How it worked
As rally members left the main marquee area on their way to the fields they were given zipped bags, pens and markers (initially coloured tags but quickly changed to re-usable pin flags as the GPS team had trouble finding the tags!)
The idea was when a find was made, it was popped into a numbered bag and retained by the finder. The spot where it was dug from was marked with a pin flag on which the finder had written the number from the bag.
The GPS team found these flags in the field and recorded them as the findspot – with the bag number as the id record.
When the finder then presented the finds bags at the Portable Antiquities desks the bag number was entered as part of the record – this will then be matched up against the GPS reading to ensure accurate find spot recording.
Sounds simple and it was!
Suzie Thomas from Newcastle Uni recording findspots on GPS
Who took part in recording?
Well - not everyone participated in recording (it was voluntary) – but many, many more did.
The sheer numbers of people attending (way over the 250 originally advised and including day attendees) meant that not everyone heard the PA system or understood the request for recording before the start – and a great many people don't think roman grots are worth recording too :) There were also people turning up on the day not knowing about the recording function taking place.
Walking around the field there were a number of people who didnt have bags and flags – but as many if not more did. It was encouraging that some people asked for extra to try and encourage the others around them to get involved too.
Was it worthwhile?
The proof will be in the pudding i.e Badgers final report, but I think the answer has to be a resounding “yes”!
The benefits of having an archaeological presence there were appreciated by the majority of detectorists and prove that we can work together where there is a will. That said, there is no reason why detectorists could not pull off a rally of this type without any archaeological input – it just requires the organisation of find spot recorders and an identification team to attend, do the recording and photography and the final records to be passed onto either the PAS or direct to the HERs.
I wonder however which is the easiest option? Id go for the professionals to make life simpler all round.
The local archaeological Unit visiting the rally
Teething problems
There were some teething problems, lessons to be learnt etc which Badger has taken on board and will be reflected in his report.
From a personal point of view some areas for consideration are:
When an event of this type takes place the attendees need to be fully briefed beforehand so they know what is expected if they choose to get involved.
- The PA system needs to be adequate to cope with the number of attendees at the rally.
- Bags and Flags are great from an recording standpoint but maybe some thought needs to be given as to how practical pin flags are for detectorists to carry about easily.
- Involve the local community. There were a steady tickle of visitors to the marquee during the event from the village who were curious to see what was happening on their doorstep and to discover what was found. Many had conversations with detectorists – no bad PR for our hobby. Badger is also returning to the village after his report has been written to give a talk to the locals about the event and the findings themselves. Its good to give something back to the local community.
- Finds cabinets – there were no finds cabinets in place for people to see what had been unearthed during the weekend. Given the relucatance of people to part with their finds it would be good for the images taken by the PAS to be shown in the evenings on a slide show on a laptop
- Involve some detectorists in the archaeological and findspot recording team – it helps break down barriers
- A smaller scale event would perhaps have been better – for no other reason than the logistics. Most of the above hic-cups would have been prevented if there was a more manageable number attending.
The good bits
This was first and foremost a detecting rally - not archaeology. You could say it was a “best of both worlds” rally where we all proved we could co-operate without getting in each others way. Most of us came away feeling that we had worked together as equals, that we got on with each other, we had respect for each other and that we all can learn from each other.
The rally was very much about sharing and caring for our history and heritage. The final report by Badger will tell a story – a true one at that! - of the landscape and the shadow of the people who walked this ground before us.
The rally detectorist's were shown in a good light – we were seen as people who care for our history and the importance of artefacts as much as any professional. As an added bonus BBC tv cameras were there to record it too to broadcast it to the nation.
Even my mum watched !
Lights, Camera, Action!
Links
British Archaeological Jobs Resource
Tags: bajr, british archaeological jobs resource, dvrobrivae, metal detecting, portable antiquities scheme, water newton