Texas "Standards" on UK Antipathy to Archaeological Preservationst

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Over on the "Stout Standards" website we have the blog host's reaction to criticism that he publishes UK hate-blogger John Howland's attacks on British archaeologists:

I am most grateful for his friendship, and appreciate his contributions to Stout Standards. I can attest to the fact that whenever he  posts, the hits on my site go way up. [...] John Howland is one of a kind. Smart, shrewd, not at all subtle 

So the answer seems to be that he encourages the nazi-jibes, the attacks and so forth because it brings the "hits" on his "site" up. It is quite nticeable that he seems obsessed by the number of comments he receives on his blog (see the thread "You will have a hard time changing my mind…") and indeed very interested in how many comments others "do not" get. The personal nature of much of the waffle on Mr Stout's blog suggest that he is merely an attention seeker trying to relive the old glory days of his "detector wars".

I wonder how much those responsible detectorists who are at least making the effort to "do it right" and work with, and not against, archaeologists (in the recognition that this is in the end the ONLY way their hobby will continue to enjoy its current freedoms), appreciate the number of "hits" the antagonistic snipes of the likes of Howland and Stout are getting, and the damage this is inevitably doing to the nice cosy picture of cooperative tekkies. My guess is they at least have the intelligence to see what harm this kind of thing repeated long-term can do to the image of the hobby.   As do I.

Blogging Archaeologists not welcome here

1) http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ACM-L/

2)"I am very interested in the collecting of ancient and medieval coins and also feel that recent topics discussed on the group are of interest to me personally "

Your membership request has been submitted to the group CoinCom! You will receive a confirmation email when your membership has been approved. Until then, you can find other groups to join or create your own by visiting the Yahoo! Groups home page.

3) "You have been banned from this group by the group moderator   You may not join the group Moneta-L".

Taking Responsibility MD Style

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From a transatlantic metal detectorist's blog:

"I have no idea what the answer is to all this heat, but someone needs to take it seriously and deal with it. You can call it whatever you want,  but it is getting worse each year. [...] We have given up on our lawn this year. It just isn’t going to happen. Likewise our plantings are withering and turning brown. Our electric bill is sky high,  and the two air conditioning units run 24/7."

call it what you like, but just don't call it carbon footprint...

Acccusers on Anti-Preservationist Blogs Should be Sure of their Facts

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Sarah Thornton, 'My libel victory underlines the need for journalists to check their facts', Guardian, Friday 29 July 2011


 Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2010-12

Royal Assent 1 May, 2012.

If it Goes Through, That Will Scupper the Pro-Collecting Trouble-makers

'Websites to be forced to identify trolls under new measures', Websites will soon be forced to identify people who have posted defamatory messages online. New UK government proposals say victims have a right to know who is behind malicious messages without the need for costly legal battles. The powers will be balanced by measures to prevent false claims in order to get material removed. This deals with an awkward discrepancy between UK and US legislation, and will help protect free speech. It will also allow Steve Taylor to find out who really was behind a certain blog written by his enemies in the UK.

Mad as a Detectorist

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Over on the Amber's Digs Closed Access metal Detecting Forum, Steve Rice (Thu Apr 12, 2012 3:18 pm) posts the following link:

I know that between us Mods we try and keep Barford related posts off UKDN. But that is more to do with not wanting him to feel important. But as this is a private forum, I thought I'd link to his article about Ambers Digs.   http://paul-barford.blogspot.co.uk/2012 ... metal.html

starting the thread: Re: Makes me mad!!  Since nobody felt any need to refute the points I had made in the text referred to, this of course started the usual spate of abusive language, the List owner's partner Graham (forklift truck driver Graham Duff) adding helpfully:

Annoying little shit who left this country to dwell in a place he isn't hated
Who cares what he thinks no one takes any notice of the bloke any way.He copied this from UKDN didn't he ? not sure where he got the other bit from though.... This forum is a Barford free zone he aint on here thats for sure

I had of course (as I stated quite clearly) taken Karl's comment from the newspaper article to which my blog post provides a commentary. But Karl seems less than pleased I had read what he himself published on a public webpage and had an opinion. He writes (Thu Apr 12, 2012 3:57 pm):

He won't be able to quote me if i ever meet the fucking twat, face to face, i will tear him a new arsehole then shit down it , i'm fucking furious ,I hope i meet him sometime as it will only need to be once , can't say how annoyed i am at the present time , he is a fucking dick head and if any one knows him , then PLEASE TELL HIM WHAT I HAVE SAID , and also tell him i mean every single word and will make sure that if he comes back in this country to give me a ring GRRRRRRRR GRRRRRRRRR GRRRRRRRR, i am sorry to everyone for using bad language on the site, but in this case i feel that it is totally justified and i did not wright [SIC] IN MY POST, HE HAS ADDED IT, The twat

That sounds like a public threat, doesn't it? He did indeed write what I reported. The list owner's partner Graham continues the aggression theme (Thu Apr 12, 2012 4:02 pm): 

[...] Karl there's a waiting list 10 miles long of who wants to rip his head off [...]. Let it go over ya shoulder he'll be dead one day then treasure hunters can dig him up and use his skull as a chamber pot.......his head is full of shit now so why change things

"Treasure Hunters", eh? Surely the whole dispute was about the use of that term? What nasty abusive people these metal detectorists seem to be. 

 

Cerebral Debate on Coiney Forum

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One conspicuously cerebral collector of dugup coins, a "mwilson603" thinks he has thought of an original insult on the basis of my name. He uses it in the thread "Re: 2 coins of Cabinet W seized in New York by District Attorney on January 05, 2012, 05:43:52 am

It should be noted that it is thought that the term "to barf", which means "to vomit", has its origins in the actions of all normal people that have read that bloggers, Paul Barford's, rantings.[...] You will also note that within his blog, metal detectorists are essentially presented as the spawn of satan. However, what he conveniently fails to point out is that without detectorists many recent discoveries would probably not been found, and extensively studied. [...] Obviously only my opinion, however Mr Barford is an idiot, and one to whom I have given far too much exposure by writing this. regards Mark

His missive contains a list of a dozen Treasure hoards dug up from below plough-level for the most part by British artefact hunters. Notably not a single foreign hoard is mentioned in the list published on a US ancient coin collecting forum - though they too are found with metal detector use. So, where, Mr Wilson is the publication of the "extensive archaeological [or numismatic] study" of ANY of the hoards you mention? Who is financing this work, who is carrying it out? Where? I rather think this coiney has not quite grasped the argument about the problems with British policies on artefact hunting and collecting and the means adopted to deal with it. Still, he has shared his schoolboy joke about my surname with his giggling pals, that seemed to be his main aim in posting.

Mark Wilson apparently from Doncaster, England seems to be an avid collector of Late Roman Bronze coins. No wonder he values the services of metal detectorists who strip them from ancient sites to sell. In fact, we learn that he is a member of the Midland Metal Detecting Club