Hi Bob,
The bottom line is that it is impermissible to dig in cemeteries for
artifacts or for any other unauthorized reason. Your friend that is
unearthing "arrowheads" will be in grave trouble, pardon the pun, if he is
discovered digging in a cemetery for this purpose. The average age of flint
artifacts is approximately 4000 years and all stone artifacts are
prehistoric. It is illegal in Indiana to excavate prehistoric artifacts of
any kind. Doing so in a cemetery is a double whammy.
Incidentally, there are no hobby metal detectors capable of sensing a coin
or ring sized object more than 10-12 inches below the surface. Even the
most expensive instruments will barely accomplish this. I speak as a person
with an RF engineering background who has more than 30 years experience with
metal detecting devices of all types, and as having owned and operated a
factory authorized service center for several major U.S. metal detector
manufacturers. That guy in the park was either misinformed or just pulling
your leg. While a top-of-the-line detector may be capable of sensing larger
metal objects at somewhat greater depths, coins and coin size metal
artifacts may only be found nearer the surface.
In the past 15 years or so, my company has directed and or supervised scores
of archaeological surveys investigating historic battlefields and military
encampments, Native American villages and pioneer homesteads with dates
ranging through the period from the French and Indian war up to and beyond
the American Civil war. During the course of this work, we have recorded
the depths of many thousands of metal artifacts that were detected and
recovered by skilled operators using state-of-the-art metal detecting
instruments. It is interesting, I think, to note that the calculated
average depth of metal artifacts over this time and under widely varying
site conditions is 8.3 cm or somewhat less than 4-inches. There are many
factors that influence the depth of artifacts. In agricultural settings,
hundreds of years of cultivation has altered the position and depth of
artifacts; but again the average depth is still within just a few inches of
the present surface. Artifacts found in undisturbed context are generally
found closer to the surface.
It is a common misconception that hand-held metal detectors can be used to
discover Civil War belt buckles, buttons, military weapons and
accoutrements, coins and jewelry and the like in human graves of normal
depth (3-5 feet below surface). In fact, I recall an Indiana University
archaeologist that was quoted some years back that "grave robbers were using
metal detectors to dig the silver dollars off dead men's eyes". While this
makes for spectacular and polarizing press, it simply isn't possible even if
there were such a thing as silver dollars on the eyes of the dead...and
there are not.
I would reiterate that the misguided folks treasure hunting in cemeteries
probably have no intention of digging into graves, and that they couldn't do
so on purpose with the technology available to them anyway. What these
people really need is an understanding that what they are doing is wrong
both legally and morally. It is my contention that cemetery treasure
hunters are probably just run-of-the-mill citizens that have allowed their
hobby get the best of them. I believe that they can be confronted and
convinced to carry out their hobby elsewhere.
Best Regards,
Rich Green
Historic Archaeological Research
4338 Hadley Court
West Lafayette, IN 47906
Office: (765) 464-8735
Mobile: (765) 427-2949
www.har-indy.com
----- Original Message -----
From: "Bob Alloway" <ralloway(a)earthlink.net>
To: <INPCRP-L(a)rootsweb.com>
Sent: Friday, December 22, 2006 7:06 PM
Subject: [INPCRP] METAL DETECTORS IN CEMETERIES
I have a friend that has the uncanny ability to find arrowheads in
cemeteries. He says it is a pristine environment, untouched soil that has
not been changed to progress. That's why most of the native plants still
survive in them. But the way I read the cemetery laws, you can't remove
any artifact you find in one. Not even an arrowhead.
Maybe the treasure hunters are only looking for things a few inches down
in
the soil, but they shouldn't be removing anything. I saw a man in a city
park, with an expensive detector, which can penetrate 2-3 feet deep. I
could not believe all the rings and coins he had in his pockets, he had
found in the past several days. He was retired from ATT, and his wife made
him find a hobby, where he got out of the house! Bob
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