3/28/20 Report - 18th Century Shipwreck Dated. Archaeology and Detectorists. Closed Beaches Ideas.

Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com.

Source: See SeaCoastOnline.com link below.

YORK, Maine — Findings from a study conducted on a shipwreck site on Short Sands beach indicate the vessel was built before the American Revolutionary War...

Claesson said he had records of the wreck’s unearthing in 1958, then 1978.

“Photos taken during that time indicate the mast was cut off,” he said.

Claesson asked for anyone with photos or artifacts to contact him.

“I’m not trying to be the archaeology police,” he joked. “But people have been interacting with the site for decades. I’d love to see photos or learn anything else about it to be able to tell the full story of the site.”...

Here is the link for the rest of the article.

https://www.seacoastonline.com/news/20200325/york-shipwreck-predated-american-revolution-say-researchers


In the past year or two it has seemed to me that archaeology has not been bashing treasure hunters or metal detecting hobbyists as once as they once did.

A few years ago it seemed that at least every other article involving detectorists included the word "looters" or something to that effect.  I haven't been seeing that very often since around the time I did a piece entitled "The Problem With Archaeology."  I can't imagine that it had such an effect, but at the same time, it could have.

I mentioned some compelling facts including the notion that archaeologists claim to be "saving the past for the public" while acting in a very contradictory manner.  I pointed out that "treasure hunters" in some ways serve that goal much more effectively than archaeologists.  That is evidenced by a number of facts, including the fact that many more of the readers of this blog have seen shipwreck items in the Mel Fisher museums than in the Florida Museum of Natural History.  That is just a part of my argument and recommendation for archaeology.

Here is the link to the post in which I talk about that.

https://treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com/2018/02/22518-report-problem-with-archaeology.html

One point I made in that post is how the public can assist archaeologists.  Claesson asks for that assistance, but because of the mistrust created by archaeologists has to let the public know that he is not going to "try to be the archaeology police."

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With the beaches close you might be wondering where you can metal detect.  We've faced beach closings before, and there are always people who manage to get on the beaches one way or another.

I often say there is always away.  I am a person that enjoys finding alternative methods of doing things.  There are ways you can get on the beach even if it is closed without doing anything illegal.  You don't have to jump fences or do anything like that.  For example, you can go by boat or jet ski.  Maybe you have friends or acquaintances that have beachside residences or you might rent a room at a beachside residence or resort.  Some detectorists have passes through their jobs or do contracting that can get them on the beach.  There are things that I won't mention.  They are used by some detectorists every time the beaches get closed for hurricanes.  I'ts not that I'm trying to keep them secret, and I don't use them myself.  I just want you to know that there are ways to do it legally if you really want to do it.  .

Better yet, there are some good alternatives to the beach, which you should realize because the beach is not always the best place to hunt anyhow.  Let's think off-beach.

The first thing is to be alert to what you see as you go about your normal daily business.  You will see some decent sites.  I always have a long list of sites in mind that I plan to test someday when I get around to it.  When I think of beaches, I have my high and low priority beaches, but I also have a long list of off-beach detecting spots too.

You know how when you are driving along A1A and you see all of those spots where fishermen kayakers and others stop along the west side of the Indian River.  They've been doing it for many years, but those spots aren't detected much.  There is a reason that people don't detect those spots.  For one thing, there will be a lot of trash and sinkers and very little good treasure, but if you adjust your techniques, you might find a few interesting things.  I've done those spots before, and have found some nice things.  You might even find something old - maybe a nice old shell native American artifact.  There is more to be found in the river than you might think.  There are even spots where galleons or pieces of galleons washed over the island and into the river.  You'll have a better chance if you've done your research.

There is a lot of construction going on.  The railroad is adding tracks and roads are being widened and repaired.  In the process old ground is being churned up.  Don't try to detect an active construction site, but if you watch what is going on, you can identify some good metal detecting possibilities.  Work around the edges or after the work is done.  If you've been reading this blog very long, you've read numerous articles about archaeological sites being unearthed by construction projects.

The recent drought will open up some areas that were overgrown.  I know of one area that I've been watching for a while and the overgrowth is thinning out so I won't have to do so much work to make it detectable.  It was heavily covered by overgrowth, but you could see surface evidence of old glass and bricks.  You can open up new areas if you are willing to remove brush.  You might still need to adjust how you sweep your detector.  Maybe use non-motion mode.

You might ask for permission to detect private property.  Most beach hunters have never done much of that.  It never hurts to try something new.

You can hook up with other detectorists who might have access to good areas.

Remember the old silver coins that came out of the Peace River.  Waterways are good areas to metal detect and often have public access.  Search the banks or shallow water, or dive.

Watch for grass covered parking lots.  I know where there are a few of those.  They are often not closed off.

I always enjoyed working old carnival grounds especially just after the carnival picked up and left. I found mostly modern coins.  Sometimes there would be dollars of quarters laying on the surface and dollar bills blown up against the fences.

Generally, just keep your eyes open as you go about your normal daily business and notice any possibilities.

Try something new and different.  It might be outside your comfort zone, but you'll probably learn something new and improve your skills for when you get back to the beach.

Another possibility is do another kind of treasure hunting.  Maybe go look for some fossils.

There are a few ideas.  If you have others that you'd like to share, let me know.

---

I just thought of this last night and thought I should post it.  I don't know exactly why.  I just have a feeling.

You'll remember it from 1985 if you are old enough.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4M7c-JOnPdw

---

The surf will be around four feet today and then decreasing for the next few days.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

1/12/19 Report - Penny Not Worth Million Dollars. Ages and Stages of Detecting. Worked-Out Sites May Not Be So Worked Out.

Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com.

Rare 1943 Copper Penny.

I posted an article about this penny a couple days ago.  The article claimed that it would be worth over a million dollars.  Well, it sold for $204,000.   I started to say for "only $204,000," but it is hard to say "only" when referring to a dollar amount having six figures.  That is still a very nice amount for a coin find.

Here is the link.

https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2019/01/10/rare-penny-found-high-school-cafeteria-pittsfield-expected-sell-for-big/PLOWHy26nSDVPDyi5BNVKI/story.html

I received the following email from Joe D. in response to yesterday's post about profitable metal detecting.

Hello,

I was out for the first hunt of the new year this morning! I found a few decent items and some coins! A homemade copper wire and stone necklace,  and a St. Christopher's necklace! Neither of much value, but gave me some more info on this particular beach!  Because the medal looked new, i did a brief search online and found a line of "retro" medals that matched! Like anyone that's detected for awhile, I've run across religious medals before, but found it interesting that they are still popular with the youth of today! Albeit more colorful versions and inexpensive, which kids can afford!

     

I just wanted to comment on todays  [ 1/11/19 ] post! 

As you said, everyone has different motivations for why they detect! I started the hobby at a relatively young age of 15!( late 70's) I did it for a few years, and did ok with my search locations within biking distance for the most part! I did better with silver coins back then, than i do now!! ...

A Bounty Hunter 880 and old school yards and houses! More to find back than i guess! After that i guess a car, and girls took over my free time!!

    
I still have the silver! I've never sold anything I've found then, and now! Only given away the good jewelry to family members!

The most important reason to me for detecting, i think, is the "thrill of the chase"! And while that is still there to a large extent!  Since i started detecting again, my interest in history and things that are old, are a close second! And third would be the hunt on the internet to identify items and learn!

      
I have also enjoyed hunting for arrowheads out of state for years, (have a few places to hunt on family property) and even keep the chips because they show signs of being worked by ancient hands, which helps me connect, if that makes sense! ( now i look for bottles too).

     

Thanks for all you contribute!

Joe D.

Colorful St. Christopher Medallion

Find and photo by Joe D.

People do go through different stages in life and there are different priorities at different times.  I looked at metal detecting very differently at different times in my life.  There was the beginning, when I was just trying it out and learning.  There was different stages to that too.  Then there was a time when I was trying to see if I could make a living by metal detecting.  I wasn't so interested in actually making my living that way, but I wanted to see if I could.  Then after I answered that question for myself, I started looking at it as more of a side interest - although one that I was still very passionate about and spent a lot of time on.  That wasn't the end of it either.  I'm still learning, but look at things differently again now.

I once did a poll to determine why people metal detect.  There were  a lot of different answers.  Many people were like Joe.  They like the thrill of the hunt.  I think that is a big part of it for most detectorists.  You never know what you are going to find.

I looked for that old post in my blog but didn't find it yet.  If anyone knows where it is, let me know.  Maybe I'll find it later.

Many detectorists like to find old things and like the feeling of touching the past that they get when they find something old.

The internet has really changed things.  Back in several decades ago, metal detecting was a much more secretive activity for a lot of the hard core detectorists. Some would only detect when they would not be observed.  Some would only detect at night.  There were a few metal detecting clubs, but they were attended more by the casual detectorists who wasn't really finding a lot, and a very few of the hard core guys, who were mostly very secretive about their locations and techniques.  There were a few magazines and books, but they didn't have near the impact of all the internet resources.  And reading is a pretty solitary activity too.

Now you can find huge amounts of information on the internet - not only about metal detecting, but also about archaeology, history, artifact conservation, etc. etc.  It is a totally different world that way.  It is so much easier to find information, and that, as Joe mentions, is enjoyable too.  There is what I've called the "hunt after the hunt" when you research your finds to learn what they are and where they came from and determine their value.  I guess one of the best things about metal detecting is that there is so much to learn and you can never master it all.  There are always surprises and new challenges to keep you going.

---

If you ever start thinking that all the good sites have been cleaned out, go back and read my 3/26/18 post.  Russ P. detected a home site several times and then sifted the lot.  Here is my summary of what he found. study found.

The study was conducted on a small residential lot in a working class 20th century Florida neighborhood.  The lot size was approximately 4500 square feet and the lot was occupied for nearly one hundred years.

About 500 coins total (detecting and sifting) was found by the reader.  That would be about one for every nine square feet or one square yard.

43 silver coins were found by the same reader.  That would be one for little more than every 100 square feet.  Counting known silver coin finds by one other detectorist, it would be more like one for every 90 square feet.

About one in ten coins found on this lot inhabited during most of the 20th century were silver.

Despite detecting the lot at least 12 times, only about 20 percent of the coins found on the lot were found by detecting.  The remainder were found by sifting.  Just over 30% of the silver coins found, were found by detecting.

That means there was a lot left after detecting the same lot several times.  Russ used another technique (sifting) to get the remaining coins.

Here is that link.

https://treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com/2018/03/82618-report-first-investigation-ever.html

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There isn't much surf.   I'm still hoping for a good winter storm.  None expected real soon.

Google removed the poll app from blogger.  If anyone has any recommendations on some good poll apps that I can use in this blog, let me know.  I'd like to get back to doing polls occasionally.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comast.net

4/3/18 Report - Coin Hoard. Don't Get Stuck In A Rut. Analyze and Adjust.

Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com.

Source: See LiveScience link below.

A hoard of about 119 coins, together with an iron lock that may have sealed them within a container, have been found inside a collapsed building in the harbor of the ancient city of Corinth in Greece.

The discovery leaves archaeologists with a mystery: Why didn't anyone come to retrieve the stash after the building collapsed?

"That is an excellent question and one that has been troubling us," said Paul Scotton, a professor of classics at California State University Long Beach who leads excavations for the Lechaion Harbor and Settlement Land Project. "The coins were found circa 30-40 centimeters [12 to 16 inches] below modern ground level under the collapsed tile roof. With it having been so close to the surface, why someone didn't return for it is a puzzle. Either the owner could not or did not want to retrieve it. Exactly why that would be is only conjecture," Scotton said...

Here is that link.

https://www.livescience.com/62192-ancient-coin-stash-leaves-mystery.html

It is amazing how much is out there.  Here is a hoard of 119 coins that was just about a foot below ground level that has been there around 1600 years.  Not long ago I told about a small city lot in the suburbs of a large modern Florida city that produced hundreds of coins.  There is not shortage of good targets out there, but you might have to do something different to get them.  

There are times when you have to adjust.  One of the most common mistakes made by very experienced detectorists is using the same techniques on different types of sites.  It might be as simple as adjusting your detector settings or using a different detector.  Some people never bother to change their detector settings no matter where they hunt.  I've seen guys that don't do anything except go out to the beach and turn their detector on and start hunting.   They never make adjustments to the beach conditions, part of the beach they are hunting, or anything.   They turn the detector on and go.  That's it.  You can get away with that most of the time, but there are times when it is a big mistake.  You usually don't find out about the big mistakes.  A miss is a miss.

Some good time spent eye-balling can be a big help, whether you are looking at a beach or a land site.  Analyze the situation before beginning.  But there is no reason to analyze a situation unless you are going to make some adjustments.

Metal detecting a busy resort area is much different from detecting an out of the way treasure beach and both are very different from detecting a home site.

In my early days of detecting in South Florida I forced the beach to produce.  I was determined that every day I would find something good and hopefully a lot of it.  One day I remember, I started about sunrise and was determined I was going to find some gold that day.  Well, it didn't happen quickly that day, but I kept at it and finally pulled a gold ring out of a sand bar as the sun was starting to set. I usually didn't detect nearly that long in one session, but I did often go out with that same level of drive and determination.

There was a lot to be found down there.  There were many hotels and beach resorts that were pretty busy almost every day all year long.  If one wasn't working, you could hit the next and the next and the next.  You could move from shallow water to working dry sand and around cabanas or move to an older beach.  There were endless choices.  There were even places, that despite the large number of detectorists, that were seldom, if ever, detected for one reason or another.  I especially like to do the spots that no one else seemed to be hitting.

In recent days, I've told about different kinds of sites and different techniques for exploiting those sites.  There will be a learning curve if you decide to try different types of sites or use different techniques, but it can be worth it.

If you have been doing the same thing at the same places over and over again and finding less than you hoped, it might be a good time to try something different.

---

Source: MagicSeaWeed.com

Looks like we'll get a little bump in the surf on Friday.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

12/26/17 Report - Over-hunted and Worked-Out Beaches. Different Types of Sites. Santa Dead?

Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com.

I'm not always extremely careful with the wording in my posts.  I do too many posts too quickly for that.  I am usually pretty clear. I think, but sometimes I need to clarify what I meant and how I define the terms that I use.

In a post not long ago I used the term over-hunted.  For me, over-hunted is not exactly the same thing as hunted-out.  I use those terms slightly differently.  Over-hunted is relative.  It means that a site is hunted more than is warranted by the number of targets relative to other available sites.  Hunted-out, on the other hand, means to me,that the good targets (however that is defined for the situation) have been removed.  That is not relative to other available hunting sites.  There are simply no targets in detector range at such a site.  There will be some good targets on over-hunted sites, but fewer than at other local sites that could be detected.

Hunted-out sites might be hunted out, but things can change over time.  Any site that has a good number of visitors that lose things will be over-hunted rather than hunted-out. Over-hunted beaches will generally remain over hunted even if there are a good number of visitors because they are hunted heavily relative to the rate of replenishment.  So the number of available targets is kept low.  That does not mean that you can not find anything on an over-hunted beach.  It just means that you could find more at beaches that are not so heavily hunted.

If you are targeting old items on a shipwreck beach that has few visitors other than detectorists, that type of beach is much more likely to qualify as hunted-out because replenishment will occur much less often.

Any beach that has a good number of visitors that can lose things will be replenished on a regular basis and finds will be made.  The real question then is, are there other beaches where you could make more good finds. There are a lot of factors that can be involved in site selection.  I've discussed many of them before and won't try to get into all of that again now.

Hunting modern items is different than hunting old shipwreck items in several ways.  If you are hunting modern items, they can be anywhere they are lost.  Knowing how things are lost and where most good things are lost is the most important thing in that case.  When hunting old items, knowing how items get moved by nature over time is a more important skill.  Of course that knowledge also can be useful when hunting modern items if the modern items have been on the beach a while and especially if the the site was popular for years or decades.  If a site like that has been heavily hunted for years or decades and you are hunting mostly recent drops, knowing how items are moved over time is obviously less important.

If you are near a popular beach and hunt modern items, you can hunt the same beach daily and still make good finds without any special knowledge other than knowing how to use a metal detector. Just cover the same area daily and pick up whatever is there.  You'll eventually get to know that beach very well and it can work for you.  You'll even pick up some rare or strange items if you stick at it long enough.  The big thing is to be there and spend the time.  Targeting items that are centuries old is different.  You will be depending more on conditions changing to bring old items within detector range.

Some beaches have both old items and new items.  One such beach is Wabasso.  It occasionally produces old shipwreck items, but also has a resort and a good number of daily visitors.  That makes things easier, however it is also heavily hunted, as you would expect of such a beach.

What appears to one person to be a hunted-out beach might not be for another more skillful person.  On the other hand, an over-hunted beach is an over-hunted beach regardless of your skill level.

I hope that helps to clarify how I use those two terms.  There is a significance difference between the two terms and the way I use them.

As I said, site selection depends upon a lot of factors, and personal preference, style and convenience are just a few of them.

---

I always liked trying new and different types of sites.  I often learned something when I visited a new site.  While you might learn something from trying a different kind of detecting or a new kind of site, there is one short-term disadvantage.  When you try a new site you obviously won't know the site very well.  Therefore you will probably not be as effective at the new site as you would be at a site that you detect all the time and know very well.  In time you'll learn to detect the new site more effectively, and there will also be the bonus of being able to take what you learned and applying that new knowledge or skill to your old sites.

Sometimes you can hit a super good find through nothing dumb luck.  You just wander over to an area where there is no real reason that there should be anything good, and bingo.  That happens more with recent drops than old items on a beach.  Very old beach targets seldom show up any place other than where the forces of nature put them, whether you understand those forces or not.  There are exceptions, of course, such as when someone else finds the old item and then drops it again.  That is one example of how an old item can end up where you would never expect it to be.  In that case, it becomes what I would call a "recent drop" even if it is a very old item.  It happens.

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Santa dead?

Bones thought by some to be the bones of Saint Nicolas have been dated to the correct period of time.

Here is the link.

http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2017/12/06/santas-bone-dates-to-time-st-nicholas-scientists-discover.html

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We had some wind from the direction of the North Pole yesterday, but I did't get out to any beaches check.

Happy hunting,
Treasureguide@comcast.net

10/1/14 Report - Gold and Jade Ring. Site Survey With Target ID. Poll Results. Where People Have Been Hunting Most. Antique Dog Tags.

Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachesrport.BlogSpot.com.

Unusual High Karat Gold and Jade
Hand Formed Ring Find/

For the type of hunting that I do the most, I do not use discrimination at all, and I seldom use a detector that has target ID. I've talked a lot about discrimination in the past and won't repeat that now.  I've also talked a lot about selecting detectors for different jobs and using multiple detectors on some sites.

I don't like to waste time reading screens and trying to figure out what the output is trying to tell me when I can just as quickly dig it up and look at it.  I also like to keep my eyes on the surroundings, reading the beach, sand, water and watching what people are doing.

A detector with target ID might be a good choice when simply evaluating a junky inland or dry beach site.  Before even deciding if you want to spend any real time at a site like that, you might just do a survey with target ID detector, maybe digging a few targets to see what they tell you about the site.

You might decide after doing a survey of the site like that to either move on to another site or stay there and get serious about detecting the site.

You can detect a site like that in steps.  I've described that system before.  Change detectors, modes, or settings after each step depending upon your additional analysis.


The most recent blog poll has concluded and the results are in.  The sample size is pretty good.  Here are the results indicating where people have been detecting most this summer.

Ocean or gulf in water.	22 (25%)
Below the high tide line.	29 (33%)
Dry sand at the beach.	12 (13%)
Inland site.	15 (17%)
Inland water ie stream, pond or lake.	9 (10%)

Just over 70% of the respondents mostly detected the beaches or ocean.  The remaining nearly 30% mostly detect inland sites.

Don't forget that a lot of the readers of this blog are from other areas, and many of them detect inland unless they make a trip to Florida or something.

Of all the areas, the greatest number of respondents mostly detected the wet sand area at the beach, in fact more than twice as many than detected the dry sand.  I did not expect that.

Of those that mostly detected ocean or gulf beaches, about 1/3 detected mostly in the water. 

 I see few water hunters when I'm out.  Maybe it is because of when and where I tend to hunt.  I very often hunt when the water is rough and often around wreck beaches where water detecting isn't allowed.

The third greatest number of respondents detected dry inland sites.  Next to last was dry sand at the beach.  And the smallest number hunted inland bodies of water.
\\
Breaking it down into the categories of land versus water, the results indicate that nearly 30% do mostly water hunting.  That is a bit surprising to me too.

Of both beach and inland water hunters, a greater proportion of the inland hunters hunt "mostly" in the water as compared to the proportion of beach hunters that hunt in the water.  I would not have expected that either.

Beach hunting is easy, makes minimal physical demands and does not usually require getting permission.

Inland sites often require obtaining permission and recovering targets on dry land often requires more skill than simply sifting a scoop of sand.

---------------

You will occasionally find a vintage or antique dog tag while detecting.  There are people who collect dog tags.  Here is a link about collecting antique dog tags. 

http://thebark.com/content/collecting-antique-dog-tags


I still have no idea what the 2.5 ALABAMA tag that I posted the other day is.


Yesterday I told what the most read post of August was, but it wasn't the same as the post the received the most g+1s.  The post that was most "plused" in August was the 8/20/14 Report - Illustration Of The Development Of A Coin Hole. Five Metal Detector Annoyances. Okeechobee Battlefield. Indian Scout. Two Tropical Disturbances.

I use the number of g+1s as some indication of how much you liked a particular post.  By that measure, the 8/20 post was the favorite post of August.


I'm not so naive as to believe that any system is "all" good.  I did however presented a few things that I like about the PAS yesterday.  One of the biggest is recognition and reward for those who actually make discoveries.  There are others, but I won't get into all of that again.   Take a good look at the web site and decide for yourself.


The water was very gentle this morning.  Barely a ripple.  

Expect little surf on the Treasure Coast for the next couple of days.

Nothing in the Atlantic of interest.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@Comcast.net

8/12/14 Report - Archaeology Site Closed. How To Decide When To Quit. More On Walls Full Of Silver Coins. No Cyclones.

Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachesreport.BlogSpot.com.


Treasure Coast Beach This Morning


I found this interesting article that raises some questions.  It is about an archaeological site that has been studied since Victorian days and was more recently excavated by numerous students and professionals until one archaeologist finally declared that there was 'nothing left except gravel and natural geology.'

Here is a brief excerpt from hat article.

The public is invited in for one last open day Saturday, when there will be tours, craft demonstrations, and displays of this year's best finds, including a red pottery bowl as immaculate as if made yesterday, a massive thumb ring with an enamel inlay, and a copper alloy bottle opener, which proved to be the folding handle of a Roman soldier's skillet – apart from the decoration, almost identical to a first world war mess tin handle.

Here is the link for the rest of the article.

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/aug/08/silchester-roman-town-closes-natural-geology-archaeological-excavation-ends%20%20

One person wondered how long a site should be dug.   That to me is an interesting question.   This site was dug until they decided that there was nothing left but gravel and dirt.

That question of when to quit can be applied to metal detecting too.  When do you quit on a detecting site?   The answer depends on a lot of factors.  

If it is a site where there is continual replenishment of targets, such as a beach, then the answer might be never.

If you ask the question about a shipwreck site, for some the answer might still be never - at least not in their lifetime.   But for others the time to give up might come much sooner.  

The time to give up isn't necessarily when there is nothing left.  It might be much sooner when there are other more productive site.  You only have so much time to spend.

The decision about when to give up on a land site is often easier than a shipwreck site. 

Still the decision can be difficult.  Is the site really hunted out?  That might depend on you talk to. 

Will technology improve enough to make a site more productive again - perhaps in different ways?  That is another question.

Personally, I still am often surprised by how many times I can go over a land site and continue to find things.   That is especially true when you have used one detector or technique and then the next time use another detector or technique.  It is easy to think a site is cleaned out when there is still more to be found.

The goal is always one of the main considerations.   Without specific goals, you can't really evaluate success.  What do you want to find?  What types of things?   Is the goal to get everything, or only the best things?

In this study it seems that one of the most earth-shattering conclusions is that olives were eaten in England earlier than thought.   How important is it to know that?  To me it doesn't seem very important.   Not important enough to spend tons of time and money on.  But you never know what you will find before you begin.

Some people would say the fact that olives were eaten in England earlier than thought is or could be very important.  I'm sure those people are the ones that expect to get something out of the study - if not a salary, perhaps publications, recognition and professional advancement.  Good for them!  But is that why the site is being studied.  Judge for yourself.

It seems to me that archaeology is often practiced as if the primary purpose was to keep archaeologists employed. 

Lets not forget about the red pottery bowl, massive thumb ring and bottle opener that the pubic will get to view.  And whatever important information those objects might add.   But do the results justify the cost?  That is a question that should be answered.  Is it the best use of time and resources?

The same can be said of a metal detecting site.   Do the results justify the costs? 

In my opinion, that question should be answered in a very different way than a project that is being funded involuntarily by tax-payers. 

Metal detecting is voluntarily done by individuals at their own cost.  Many of the products are difficult to quantify -  recreation, exercise, lost items found and returned, and even occasionally but rarely, important discoveries that lead to archaeological investigations.

Whether you are talking about an archaeological project, shipwreck salvage (also archaeological but privately funded), or a simply metal detecting, there is a decision to be made.  In each of those three cases the decision should be made in a different way, but in all cases the decision has to be made. 

In all three cases, the decision has to be made without perfect knowledge.  You never quite know if you are quitting too soon or if there might be  better place to spend your time.  And in all three cases, there is a subjective element.  No matter how well you collect data and analyze what you have found, there is always the element of the unknown.  And that is a good part of what makes it so exciting.



More on the old house full of old coins. 

One city worker thought it might be finders keepers at first.

And they kept it quiet for months waiting to see if someone came foreward to claim the money.

Interesting.

Here is another article on the house with walls full of coins.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/trash-cash-florida-workers-find-2-000-silver-coins-demolition-article-1.1897886


There is nothing tropical going on in the Atlantic.

On the Treasure Coast the surf is small.  At the beach above, the unusually big tides from the Super Moon didn't do anything good.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@Comcast.net