" PURE GOLD RALLY ": ENGLAND

31 Août and 1^er Septembre1996

This translation is drawn from an interview carried out at the time of the greatest rally of prospectors ever organized in the history of European Detection. Mister PARFFIT Regional Archaeologist of Kent and its team voluntarily assisted Détectoristes. Thus these two groups do nothing any more but one by exchanging information, if we made the same thing in France the results would be identical. We thus will see how our English friends organize themselves with the success of such an event and which are the close links which all and sundry with an only aim maintain of learning some more on their past.

D &A: Which is your work today and until you of such a meeting wait ?

Mister PARFFIT : Our Archéologique team include/understand a half-dozen of people on this site of 600 acres. We assist these rallys every year, and our goal today is to record all the lucky finds which are presented by the prospectors. There is between 500 and 800 people who detect on this site. - (there will be until more than 1800 people Sunday note) Our work here is entirely voluntary. We identify then locate the discoveries on a great plan, thus we can visualize the zones of concentration of objects. Already we noted lucky finds dating from prehistory and the Romans.

D &A: Which are your relations with the prospectors ?

Mister PARFFIT : We have had one very difficult period between the representatives of Archaeology and detection. There are 20 years the things went very badly with respect to the prospectors because the Archaeologists were against metal detection. Nowadays we work sets more and more, you will see that the majority are impassioned of history and in the past. We think that if we work together we are more productive, each group collecting of interesting information thus that different but complementary lucky finds. By working sets one can have a global vision from what occurred.

D & A: What you of the prospection think ?

Mister PARFFIT : We have a significant group now prospectors who are very interested by Archaeology and very enthusiastic to make things correctly and it is this kind of people with whom we want to work. We still have some people who use detectors to find monnayables objects for simply selling them. We do not approve this kind of people, but they are a very small minority. What interests the majority of people, it is to find objects old, only for the pleasure. By integrating this information in the archaeological registers we would advance in a significant way knowledge.

D & A: Your colleagues share your point of view ?

Mister PARFFIT: I think that as in the majority of the fields, there is a range of different thoughts. Some would prefer to see the prospectors " shot at dawn a beautiful morning ". But the majority of them maintaining, note that detection has to bring much to Archaeology and thus advance they towards the idea to work with the prospectors. Us in Kent, one works much to make a success of that. Maintaining one of our principal problems is not to work with the prospectors, but a question of time, resources and of money for recording well and to examine the lucky finds so much they are numerous. This significant quantity of hardware requires a detailed examination. The stage or we are today, it is to process the data from day to day. Tous.les.jours the prospectors discover things.

D & A: What you of a rally of this kind wait and that will become the discoveries today ?

Mr. PARFFIT : These rallys are very significant, all the layers of the company are represented. Initially, the prospectors are to give pleasure, therefore we try to make so that the with dimensions archaeological one is of an easy access and we do not ask people to note too many details but simply to make record their lucky finds. The majority of people report what they found on their premises, from our point of view we would have preferred that they leave them on the spot. If they left them on the spot we could perfect the study of it, if one does not record these lucky finds today, there would be few chances that we can do it another time. Thus we did not solve all the problems with the prospectors, far from there, but to work enables us to spend more time sets and to better know us, the things are less confused than front and are easier.

D &A: You think that the detectors can have an archaeological action ?

MR. PARFFIT: It is certain that the prospectors have a role significant to play, Archaeology in general includes/understands various methods of search and certainly detection is a valid addition with the methods which we use already. Our principal concern being lack of resources to integrate the information found by the prospectors in the whole of Archaeological information.

D &A: Which were the best discoveries today ?

MR. PARFFIT: **time-out** this rally in particular with product a great quantity of currency dating from age of iron and much of currency French of this time (Gallic or Celtic). In spite of the fact that we know that it there have some currency scatter a little everywhere in the east of Kent, This very great proportion of currency dating from age of iron find here during this rally, it be the aspect the more interesting today rather than a single currency of this time.

D &A: How you chose this place and why ?

MR. PARFFIT: The place or the rally of the " detectorists " takes place is entirely decided by the organizers according to space and of the sufficient place to make carparks and camp-sites. From the Archéologique point of view we are not consulted about the places or the rallys place, sometimes one are questioned us to make sure that there is no major archeological site. Occasionally we have had rallys very close to archeological sites and one always makes sure that it circumvent these sites. But at the end they is always the prospectors themselves which decide the places of the rally; Rather for administrative reasons.

D & A: Which most significant were made discovered by of Détectoristes ?

MR. PARFFIT: In fact there A were many Archéologiques discoveries made by the prospectors these last years through all Great Britain. That makes me think of a great lucky find of currencies of the age of iron close to the Welsh border the last year. If not there A were many of other lucky finds (prehistoric for example) and lately a very large Gallo-Roman Treasure. Locally we worked narrowly with prospectors and it A had there two very interesting examples of metals worked since the era of prehistory until the age of bronze and which go back to less 1000 before Jesus-Christ. Thus locally Détectoristes found information significant for us.

D &A: You have relations with the prospectors apart from the rallys ?

MR. PARFFIT : Détectoristes which attends this rally come from everywhere to England and we do not know them very well all. We know well the local organizers and prospectors with whom we work closely. We look at every week what they found in their fields. We work much with the clubs or associations of prospectors, and if we make significant excavations we call upon them to assist us by detecting the heaps of ground or rejection.

D &A: Which are the laws as regards discovered (French) Treasury in Great Britain ?

MR. PARFFIT: With regard to the Archaeological discoveries, the laws are relatively simple. We have a very old law which is on the point of being revised without delay soon. This law stipulates that all that is in gold or money is declared with the coroner, official agent charged to inquire in order to know so yes or not it acts of a treasure whose owner is unknown. All that is not gold and money requires simply only that which made the discovery has had the permission of owner of the ground and to arrive at a common agreement on the sharing of the discoveries. If not the law stipulates that all that is found on the ground of an owner belongs him except what is gold or money (these two metals returning directly to the full Crown of England but compensation for the owner and the inventor if authorizations. Note)

D &A: You have relations with the French archaeologists, you or your colleagues ?

MR. PARFFIT: Personally, I do not have any had, but I think that at the national level there are exchanges and discussions, it is probably something which should do to us but that we did not still make.

D & A: IT THERE A A YEAR, WE WERE WITH THE RALLY OF CHILHAM CASTLE, THINK YOU THAT THERE WAS A SITE ARCHEOLOGIQUE A THIS PLACE ' (DECOUVERTE OF MORE THAN 300 ROMAN CURRENCIES AND A SOLAR WATCH OF POCKET)

MR. PARFFIT: The Générale tendency in these rallys of metal detection éparpillement seems me to be of a heap of object of various times. There were very few rallys enabling us to affirm within sight of found materials the presence of a place of dwelling. What one found they are much household refuse spread out by the manures and it is that which makes that there is large éparpillement through the majority of the local fields and in the area of the east of Kent. In spite of the fact that there are probably sites, currently what we are studying they are the fields adjacent these sites.

D & A: USE YOU AIR PHOTOGRAPHS TO LOCATE SITES IN THE FIELDS, AND WHICH ARE YOUR MEANS OF DETECTION IN WOOD ?

MR. PARFFIT : One can use a metal detector in the timbered places, but I think that the best tool of search is to use its eyes and its feet to note what one sees. The air photographs are not used for nothing in wood. But in Kent there is not much wood and it is not a problem in particular.

D & A: AFTER RALLY SEEK ROMAN OR CELTIC SITES WHEN ONE A DECOUVERT OF SUCH OBJECTS DURING A RALLY ?

MR. PARFFIT: The first thing that we make after the rally is to look at the recording who were made, and in correspondence with our cards to see what one can already deduce on this level. And further, it is theoretically possible to reconsider a site to make thorough search, to excavate or prospect visually and others... The factors which limit us they are the lack of money and the fact that we all are very occupied. What we do here, we do it during our time of libre.Il does not have there official appropriations in Great Britain for metal detection.

It is something which we do in addition to our principal work. The other factor is the attitude of the owner of the ground, in England the latter have the final word in the event of Archéologiques excavations. Theoretically if one had time and money one could return to excavate if the owner accepts it. With regard to this site in particular, I do not have anything considering which would encourage us to excavate later on. But what one found will be deferred on the registers of the sites and historic buildings which are held by the locales.Ces municipalities registers are particularly useful in the event of constructions of new roads or of structures in energy (gas, water) to visualize which are the archeological sites which perhaps exist in the area. For example just a away kilometer behind me, a new road is built and an Archéologique excavation and metal detections one already took place before the beginning of the construction schedule.

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The English example shows that one can efficiently use detectorists like source of information. In France, if one wanted to dismount well the barriers which were assembled and sometimes rightly, We would arrive at the same result. We would thus advance towards a better knowledge of our past and with a more effective protection of the hidden metal inheritance. One realizes that detection in England still poses some problems, but s%ulement a year ago of that, there was even more. One can note that the problems of detection are being reduced, it is the ' uvre of a different policy but effective and it is as the proof as detection and archaeology can be reconcilable.

Let us contemplate this sentence of Mister PARFFIT: " IT IS WHEN WE SHARE THAT WE WILL LEARN SOME MORE ON OUR MASTER KEY "

For my part, this weekend in Kent astonished me when I live the first Gauloises currencies discovered (the Gallic ones among English or circulation of currencies ' ' ') re-entered at home I opened a small book on the Gallic ones, that I did not have had time to read and was amazed to learn that two Gauloises tribes emigrated in England: ATTREBATES and PARISII.....

Pierre Angeli.