The British Museum has announced that a "Marine Antiquities Scheme" to encourage divers and others to report their finds will be
launched this July. The Marine Antiquities Scheme hopes to match the success of the Portable Antiquities scheme that covers finds on land.
Hi Peter:
ReplyDeleteHmmm...."...to encourage divers and others to report their finds..." The new Maritime Portable
Antiquities Scheme has scope, lots of it. As far as archaeology is concerned it will fall on stony ground.
References to:- "....and others..." is presumably more in hope that archaeology in all its forms - both professional and amateurs - will report their finds to the new Marine PAS Database. If one examines the threadbare efforts of land-based archaeology and its contributions to the PAS, preferring to reveal whatever they've stumped-up via post-excavation reports - and we all know what a musical hall joke that is - where even rocking-horse dung is more widespread.
The land-based Portable Antiquities Scheme is inclusive as is the new, soon to be introduced Maritime version. Yet those who claim to be 'proper' archaeologists are more than coy in revealing their finds or sharing data. The scope now for amateur divers is immense and have the potential to make a massive contribution - like their landlubbing counterparts - to the common record. I wish the MPAS well.
Best
John Howland
UK