Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com.
Gold Onyx Man's Ring Metal Detector Find.People don't realize how many rings and items are returned by detectorists. In one post not too long ago I mentioned how many class rings were returned by one detectorist down in Fort Lauderdale. A lot of people got their lost class rings back because of this one detectorist. Of course I don't have any way of knowing how many get returned every year, but I personally know of a lot of rings that have been returned to their happy owners.
Fort Lauderdale is now in the news and the metal detecting communtiy needs to act before it is too late. Not only could detectorists lose their hobby, but people would have to give up on any chance of their valuables ever being found and returned.
Here we go again. Every time they make a discovery, they want to ban metal detectors (except the ones they are using, I would guess). But this time, not only are they talking about banning metal detectors, but they are talking about putting up video surveillance cameras where people for decades have gone to sun-bathe and spend a nice quiet day with the family. There is so much paranoia and so many control freaks that soon you won't be able to go sun bathing without being on camera.
Every square inch of that beach around old Fort Lauderdale has been gone over by a detector thousands of times over, but guess what, all of those detectorists did not remove any of the artifacts that were recently discovered when the area was recently excavated. So what is the reason for all of the sudden hysteria about someone rumored to have picked up some out-of-context musket ball that somehow recently happened to find it's way to the top few inches of sand?
Did you notice that in the photo, the archaeologist using a detector was down a few feet in an excavation? Why do they think that after all of the years that those artifacts remained safely buried in the ground despite the fact that the area is one of the most heavily detected areas on the face of the earth, that all of those artifacts are suddenly going to disappear? The detectorists that detect that area are not digging six foot trenches and that is one reason those artifacts have remained safely buried even though detectorists have been covering that same sand for decades.
When there is a construction project that disturbs the sand, or a big storm that moves a lot of sand, items will be unearthed and some will be found within a few inches of the surface or actually on the surface in plain sight. Not all artifacts are found by detectorists. Some are found in plain sight. So shall we make everybody walk around blind folded?
And not all old items found in the area will be associated with the fort or even the same time period. Every beach was visited by variety of people throughout history. Does that mean that every beach should be designated as an archaeological site? I'm sure there are some extremists that would go for that.
Detectorists only dig a few inches. They carry those little sifters or sieves. They don't ride back-hoes. When artifacts that are centuries old appear within the top few inches of sand, which is where detectorists detect, those items have already been disturbed and are no longer in context, and according to what I've read from archaeologists, those out-of-context items no longer have any archaeological value because they are no longer in context. Those items were removed from their context by the digging that took place or possibly an unusually strong storm. As such, they are no longer in context and have no archaeological value. I've previously referred to articles in this blog that were written by archaeologists that state just that.
This hysteria needs to stop. Detectorists are not digging big holes and detecting the deep old layers where archaeological sites remain in context. The fact that this site was so recently discovered even though it is on one of the most heavily detected beaches on the face of the earth proves that is true.
Here is the link to one story on this.
And here is the Sun-Sentinel article with comments plus the names of those who you might want to contact.
http://discussions.sun-sentinel.com/20/soflanews/fl-historic-site-looted-20120424/10
Metal detecting community, make your voices heard before it is too late.
Gold and metals mining from the ocean floor to outer space. Interesting!
It is always good to keep your mind active. You never know when something might give you a good new idea.
Here is a heavy article on obtaining gold from the sea.
http://goldfever.com/gold_sea.htm
Treasure Coast Beach Detecting Conditions and Forecast
It is not that often that you get good smooth seas on the Treasure Coast. Today the wind is from the west and the swells are only around 1 foot. That is about as small as it gets.
Tomorrow the swells will increase to about two feet, and then by Tuesday we're still seeing predictions of six foot or so. That means this is a good time to do some water hunting and the low tide zone, If the predictions are correct, you'll lose some accessible area next week. Of course that could also mean a little stirring on the beach front.
TreasureGuide@comcast.net
