Metal detector surveys (Archaeology)

Finds from the arable fields in Brabant (NL) are usually regarded as waste that was mixed in with the manure, or as objects that were lost during the work on the land. As such they are thought to be of little archaeological relevance. Occasionally, however, metal detector hobbyists retrieve artefacts from these fields for which such explanation seems unlikely. These include a.o. papal seals, and the seal matrix of a distant priory. Questions on the nature of these artefacts were the starting point of a metal detector survey on a open field complex in Veldhoven. A pilot project (Verspay 2012) produced interesting results, suggesting that a part of these finds could be linked to religious practice aimed at the protection of the crops, securing a good harvest.

In order to test this hypothesis a subsequent survey was conducted on the neighbouring field complex De Looker. This time covering an entire historical block....

This report covers the results of this systematic study as well as an illustrated catalogue of our findings.

La aplicación del método arqueológico junto al empleo de herramientas tecnológicas como el detector de metales para el estudio de los campos de batalla contemporáneos, está permitiendo a los investigadores conocer y comprender el desarrollo de episodios bélicos recientes pero casi desconocidos.
El hallazgo, en pleno campo de batalla, del enterramiento de un soldado republicano, dio lugar a una amplia prospección arqueológica. Gracias a lo cual ha sido posible conocer en detalle algunas operaciones militares ocurridas en los alrededores de Lucena del Cid durante el verano de 1938.
Unos combates extraordinariamente violentos, que causaron a las tropas del general García-Valiño numerosos muertos y heridos y de los cuales, el autor de Espías y guerrilleros en la Sierra de Espadán, vuelve a sorprendernos al lograr documentar unos 3.500 objetos y casi dos centenares de estructuras relacionadas.
Parece increíble que después de 80 años, queden todavía por los montes de Castellón tantos restos materiales, y lo que es peor, tantos soldados enterrados de forma anónima e indigna.

En agosto de 1938 y mientras tenía lugar la Batalla del Ebro, en Castellón el frente quedó estabilizado en la Siena de Espadán. Fue entonces cuando irnos 300 guerrilleros republicanos cruzaron las líneas enemigas y se infiltraron en la retaguardia nacional. Fueron localizados por las tropas del general García-Valiño entre las poblaciones de Ayódar y Villamalur y se produjo un violento combate con numerosos muertos y heridos por ambas partes.
A través de abundantes documentos inéditos conservados en los archivos militares, este libro narra con todo lujo de detalles las circunstancias de este episodio bélico, hasta la fecha casi desconocido y de otros similares en la misma zona.
Partiendo de las informaciones contenidas en dichos documentos, el autor construye el relato histórico desde la óptica de ambos contendientes, sacando a la luz la actividad secreta de las unidades guerrilleras y de los espías republicanos.
Además de identificar a muchos de los fallecidos en la acción y averiguar dónde fueron entrenados, el autor ha logrado localizar el punto exacto en el que se produjo el combate, y recuperar cientos de objetos que todavía yacían en la superficie, gracias a los cuales se complementa la información documental.
Sin duda una obra novedosa e imprescindible para profundizar en el conocimiento de la Guerra Civil Española en la provincia de Castellón.

In the cadastre of the town Valtice there are several deserted medieval villages, in written historical sources and, in some cases, based on earlier archaeological research. Previous results of archaeological researches and other research activities have not been summarized yet. A total of 1.7 thousand ceramic and 76 metal artifacts were processed from the depository of the Regional Museum in Mikulov, from the collection of the amateur archaeologist B. Gruna and from the field walking of the author of the work. Furthermore, publicly available orthophotos were analysed for the presence of vegetation symptoms in the cadastre. The work brought new knowledge about the existence and arrangement of the settlements of Aloch and Kelčín.

Original version: https://theses.cz/id/x9i5xo/
Citation: OMELKA, Zdeněk. Zaniklé středověké osady v katastru obce Valtice. Olomouc, 2021. bakalářská práce (Bc.). UNIVERZITA PALACKÉHO V OLOMOUCI. Filozofická fakulta

In: B. V. Eriksen, A. Abegg-Wigg, R. Bleile u. U. Ickerodt (Hrsg.), Interaktion ohne Grenzen. Beispiele archäologischer Forschungen am Beginn des 21. Jahrhunderts - Interaction without borders. Exemplary archaeological research at the beginning of the 21st century. Band 1 und 2 [Festschrift Claus von Carnap-Bornheim] (Schleswig 2017) 797-807.

The last 25 years of intensive detector archaeology has quadrupled the number of Viking Age hoards on Bornholm to amazing 100 hoards. The numerous hoards provide Museum of Bornholm with new and vital information on the history of Viking Age Bornholm, but the large number of hoards does also cause administrative challenges. This paper presents an update on the last 25 years of results and failures. Furthermore the paper discusses the perspectives of detector archaeology by introducing three new spectacular silver hoards: Skovsholm - the oldest Viking Age hoard of Bornholm, Åbo - located in a roof bearing post of a house and Ahlesminde – the first Danish Viking Age hoard containing gold coins.

El expolio está considerado como la principal externalidad que afecta a la conservación del patrimonio arqueológico, por encima incluso de la destrucción ocasionada por las obras públicas. Esta depauperación progresiva de nuestra riqueza cultural se caracteriza por perpetrarse de manera voluntaria y consciente y perseguir el lucro privado menoscabando el interés público. En nuestro país, el tipo de expolio arqueológico más frecuente está asociado al uso de aparatos detectores de metales, aunque el acecho al patrimonio cultural que yace en los fondos marinos también está adquiriendo tintes alarmantes. En esta obra se analizan las modalidades más conocidas de expolio arqueológico terrestre y submarino, poniéndose en evidencia el desconocimiento profundo que tenemos sobre su magnitud. Por otra parte, se profundiza sobre la alarma social producida por estos hechos, sobre todo cuando saltan a los medios de comunicación, y se presentan los instrumentos jurídicos y administrativos de los que dispone el Estado para combatir esta lacra. Sin embargo, el tono de la obra es optimista, como refleja su título. La experiencia en la lucha contra el expolio arqueológico llevada a cabo en Andalucía, sobre todo en la provincia de Sevilla (la más afectada por este fenómeno de todo el ámbito estatal), muestra que es posible reducirlo a unos límites asumibles.

Dit onderzoek is uitgevoerd ten behoeve van de afronding van de master archeologie aan de Rijksuniversiteit Groningen. Het afstudeeronderzoek betreft een inventarisatie en interpretatie van Romeins wapen- en paardentuig uit het terpen- en wierdengebied van Noord-Nederland.

Everything around us is equipped with technologies and we are desperately trying to run these with clean energy. But the thought of making bullet proof jackets smart never occurs to mind. Soldiers who protect our country must not only be given a simple kevlar vest but an E-Uniform which runs on clean energy. In this research paper, such uniform is proposed. The uniform gives soldier better protection as well as resistance towards heat and cold in extreme weather conditions. It is equipped with a solar panel that charges the battery. The peltier plate installed gives the cooling and heating effect required. The uniform also has GPS for accurate location of soldier and GSM for contacting the soldier. It also has metal detector for detecting land mines.

"The aim of this thesis has been to investigate and interpret late Iron Age and Early Medieval traces of non-ferrous metalworking on the island Gotland, Sweden. Gotland was not, based on the archaeological record, an integrated part of the common Scandinavian culture. Instead a local, endemic cultural expression had developed; a seclusion which lasted for centuries despite the islands central position in the Baltic Sea. In the past, key elements for the understanding of local settlement- and burial practices as well as the local material culture were mainly recovered and reported by local farmers. A specific category of such finds – so-called ‘bronze slag’ is discussed and partly reinterpreted in the first study of this thesis. Two further studies treat different aspects of metalworking and metalworkers – one discusses common archaeological notions of Scandinavian workshops, production sites and metalworkers from a critical perspective while the other mainly focuses on the Gotlandic finds from metal-detector surveys carried out over the last 35 years. Based on where and to which extent, both from a quantitative and a qualitative point of view, these finds occur a hierarchical classification into four sub groups is presented – ordinary farm sites with traces of non-ferrous metalworking, workshop sites, potential workshop sites and last, extrovert harbour settlements. A fourth study presents an attempt to evaluate the usefulness of magnetometry in delimiting extant traces of high-temperature crafts, such as metalworking. The last study of the thesis presents an attempt to use trace elements analysis of skeletal lead in human bone to identify potential non-ferrous metalworkers.
As the wearing of endemic Gotlandic jewellery appears to have been central in the manifestation of the local identity it is argued that the metalworking artisans played a crucial role in defining how this identity was signalled and displayed via the jewellery and dress-related metal objects. It is further suggested that these artisans might have played an important role in upholding the local economy before the advent of local minting."

In the flood of metal artefacts received by the National Museum of Denmark due to private metal detecting, some stand out more than others due to their enigmatic appearance. One such item is a circular domed object of silver, almost 3 cm in diameter, found 2018 in Tune, south of Copenhagen. Although damaged, the artefact is distinguished by its enticing decorations with bird-like creatures. It is not entirely clear what the function of this stud may have been, or its date, but here we offer some suggestions.

In phase B1, and very prominently – in phase B2 of the Roman Period, tribal groups of the north-eastern territories of the Przeworsk culture displayed a number of characteristic regional elements. These elements are mostly seen in female outfits that become much richer and more varied than elsewhere within the Przeworsk culture territory. The features specific for the Eastern Przeworsk Zone, like e.g., a very high frequency of dress elements made of copper alloys, would be largely the effect of mutual relations of these people with communities of the Wielbark culture from Eastern Pomerania. Though outwardly only ethnographic, this specificity of the material culture may have deeper underlying causes, since starting with phase B1, there is evidence of two basic types of Eastern Przeworsk cemeteries. In both cases, the women’s grave furnishings display general Eastern Przeworsk characteristics. In cemeteries of the first group weapon graves disappear already in early phase B1. These cemeteries fell out of use before the end of phase B2 and reflect the full, or nearly full withdrawal of the ‘Przeworsk’ community from that area. The second group form Przeworsk cemeteries with ‘standard’ weapon graves. From phase B2/C1 on, the Wielbark culture newcomers continued to use many of these cemeteries. Many of them were then continuously used from phase B2/C1 by the Wielbark culture newcomers. It appears that a part of the Przeworsk population from the Eastern Zone probably joined Gothic (Wielbark) tribes then moving south. Recently many brooches recognized traditionally as definitely ethnographic markers of the Przeworsk culture (types Almgren 43 and Almgren 129) have been registered in the western provinces of nowadays Ukraine. However, these finds are already much more numerous than those from the ‘core’ territory of the Przeworsk culture – for the time being, this phenomenon seems to be inexplicable.

In 2005–2016 a number of isolated metal finds of medieval and early modern date ended up in collections of various museums in eastern Bohemia and in the Bohemian-Moravian borderland. These especially include militaria, equestrian equipment, but other find categories are present as well. The objects have different evidential value, but in a number of cases, they represent valuable sources of knowledge about areas which are archaeologically still little known. Bohemian-Moravian borderland – Middle Ages – metal objects Úvod Od r. 2005 (po obsazení archeologického pracoviště v Regionálním muzeu ve Vysokém Mýtě) zde byla věnována značná pozornost problematice používání i zneužívání detekto-rů kovů. V této souvislosti tu byly přebírány náhodné nálezy učiněné s detektory kovů, později řadu nálezů poskytli spolupracovníci uvedené instituce, na řadě lokalit pak pro-váděl cílený detektorový průzkum archeolog Regionálního muzea ve Vysokém Mýtě za účasti spolupracovníků. Vedle kolekcí z nejrůznějších lokalit, které byly a jsou postupně předmětem prezentace v odborném tisku, docházelo rovněž k ojedinělým nálezům vrchol-ně středověkých artefaktů a artefaktů ze staršího novověku. I když jejich vypovídací hod-nota je značně nižší, protože nepochází z intaktních archeologických situací v rámci stan-dardních výzkumů či z větších nálezových kolekcí, které by usnadnily interpretaci, i tyto předměty si nepochybně zaslouží bližší pozornost. Jejich zveřejnění (mimo numismatické nálezy) je úkolem následujících řádků. 1 1 Příspěvek byl vypracován v rámci programu aplikovaného výzkumu a vývoje národní a kulturní identity (NAKI II) č. DG16P02R031 (Moravské křižovatky).

Kincskeresés, kaland, kikapcsolódás – olyan hívószavak, amelyekre könnyen felfigyelnek a múlt értékeire fogékony, új tapasztalatokra vágyó és tettre kész polgárok. Egy jól felépített közösségi régészeti program biztosítani tudja a felfedezés izgalmát, a közösségi élményt, a szabadtéri tevékenység kellemes fáradtságát, a rekreációt. Az örökségvédelmi intézményeknek fokozottan figyelni kell a civil szféra által megfogalmazott kulturális igényekre, hiszen az intézményrendszer fenntartói végső soron maguk az állampolgárok. A civil lakosság ma egyre erőteljesebben igényli az aktív részvételt a terepi régészeti kutatásban, a múzeumok számára pedig objektív mutatókkal mérhető hasznot jelent az önkéntesek szabadidejének örökségvédelmi munkára fordítása. A résztvevők számára kulcsfontosságú élmény a közvetlen találkozás a múlttal, tárgyi emlékek és régészeti jelenségek formájában. A régészek ezért cserébe értékes segítséget kapnak a terepi kutatás és dokumentálás egymásra épülő munkafázisaihoz, de sok esetben a szakirodalmi, helytörténeti adatgyűjtéshez is. A Ferenczy Múzeumi Centrum közösségi régészeti programjának jelenleg több mint 130 résztvevője van, egy-egy kiemeltebb jelentőségű ásatásunkon a napi nyolc-tíz önkéntes jelenléte teljesen szokványos. Ez a szerencsésnek nevezhető állapot több évre visszamenő szívós munkának, és kapcsolatépítésnek köszönhető.

Cílem tohoto článku je
přispět k poznání doby bronzové
v okolí Kralovic v severovýchodní části
Plzeňska. Toto období je prozatím
v tomto regionu známo spíše v náznacích.
V příspěvku se jedná o zpracování
tří bronzových artefaktů objevených
náhodně pomocí detektorů kovů mimo
známé archeologické lokality. Jde
o dýku s plochou čepelí ze střední doby
bronzové, fragment kulovité jehlice se
zúženým krčkem z mladší doby bronzové
a sekerku s týlními laloky a příčným
ostřím z pozdní doby bronzové. Dýka
a jehlice byly podrobeny traseologické
analýze.

This paper discusses non-ferrous metalworking on Gotland, Sweden, c. AD 500–1150 as it is reflected through products and production debris recovered during metal detector surveys over a period of more than 30 years. Since most of the surveys were focused on the recovery of silver hoards the production-related finds have mostly been overlooked by previous research. This is unfortunate since they often offer important clues, both for establishing where non-ferrous metalworking occurred and to how it was organised. An additional number of sites, identified through more traditional archaeological methods are also discussed. Altogether these finds help to increase the understanding of the Gotlandic society in the late Iron Age and Early Medieval Period.

V zadnjih desetletjih se je v Sloveniji razraslo in v javnosti populariziralo gibanje ljubiteljskih zbirateljev, ki z detektorji kovin iščejo kovinske in predvsem arheološke najdbe. To je izzvalo oster odziv arheološke stroke, ki izpostavlja škodljivost početja posameznih ljubiteljev za skupno kulturno dediščino. Prispevek obravnava pravne predpise Slovenije in izbranih drugih evropskih držav ter primerja odziv zakonodajalcev na ta pojav.

In recent years, especially since 2002, a new stage has been reached in the research of Hedeby as a result of diverse initiatives in and around this site which is so important for the early medieval history, not only of the North Sea and the Baltic, but also of Scandinavia and the continent. These new approaches have concentrated on the reappraisal of older excavation features from the settlement and the harbour as well as on the use of geophysical prospection methods and the selective small-scale excavations which have consequently taken place. The use of metal detectors has succeeded in opening a new window on our understanding of the relatively later Hedeby, complementing the information gleaned from the conventional fieldwalking conducted in the 1960s and 1970s.

This talk, held in February 2014, gives a summary of the results from four seasons of metal detecting, surveys, GPR-mapping and excavations within the "Getaryggen 1567"-project. This Swedish battlefield project is trying to follow in the footsteps of Daniel Rantzaus invading Danish army during the Nordic Seven Years War, a major conflict in Early Modern Scandinavia. One of the battlefields has been located and partially excavated, documenting a forgotten skirmish involving some 3 000 men - a vanguard of professional soldiers versus defenders, to a large extent consisting of local militia. It has been possible to locate both the battlefield itself and the adjoining Swedish camp. From the material remains found on the battlefield it is now feasible to evaluate the importance of the militia in mid-16th century warfare, its value and effectiveness as a fighting force. After four field seasons of metal detecting the map showing the distribution of finds gives a clear, easily interpreted picture of the events on the 31st October 1567. While the number of finds is relatively low along the Swedish line of defense and where the Danish troops made their advance, a notable concentration is to be found in the vicinity of the central blockhouse and in the Swedish encampment. This is where the final stage of the battle took place, a fierce fight man to man.
However, the focus of our research is also on the consequences of the conflict for the local communities. What happened to a population that found itself in harm’s way, in a region almost completely devastated by the invading army? Next step of the project will include surveys and excavations in some of the deserted villages along the Nissan River valley. There is also a number of unexplored defensive positions along the Nissastigen road, parts of a system established before or during the war. Another important question is why the Nordic Seven Years War is almost forgotten today? Changing borders and the self-image of Scandinavia as a role model for peacefulness might be the answer. But what traces remain in the local folklore of this catastrophe? What tales and legends uses motifs from tragedies four centuries ago?

Based on the study of 1,859 metal-detected brooches recovered at different sites in the Limfjord region, this paper discusses patterns of production, distribution, use, and deposition of brooches. Widespread indications of nonferrous metalwork and a modest number of models for brooch production suggest that brooches were produced at many settlements in the region during the period studied (AD 400–1150), and traces of technical change and varying distribution patterns in the finished brooches suggest temporally as well as spatially differing modes of production. Furthermore, analyses suggests that most brooches were intact when they entered the soil, and seemingly random
distribution patterns likely reflect the fact that many, perhaps most, were simply accidentally dropped. However, over and above, the interpretational difficulties are consequent on the recovery of all of the metal-detector finds in the plough layer detached from their original context. The interpretation of distribution patterns is at most sites also markedly challenged by the fact that many brooches, along with other metal artefacts, appear to having been secondarily deposited in the fields surrounding the settlements, probably during the manuring of the fields.