Abstract: The wealth of finds uncovered by detectorists in recent decades helps to reshape the way we understand the Iron Age and Roman periods in Scotland. This is not just true of big, spectacular finds like the Blair Drummond gold hoard, but comes from the gradual accumulation of small fragments that build to a bigger picture. Drawing on both spectacular and less spectacular examples from the speaker’s research and collaborations with detectorists, some of the benefits of these finds and such a collaborative approach will be explored.

Fraser Hunter

Fraser is principal curator of Iron Age and Roman collections at the National Museum of Scotland. His research includes understanding Iron Age decorative metalwork in its European context and the impact of the Roman world on the peoples of Scotland, topics on which is has published extensively. As well as excavation and object based analysis, a vital element has been following up Treasure Trove discoveries in the field to provide a context for “stray finds”, as at Birnie (Moray) following a scatter of Roman coins, and at Blair Drummond, the findspot of an Iron Age gold torc hoard.

Abstract: Since 2007, David Connolly has been an advocate for the acceptance of how much metal detecting can offer to the field of archaeology. The argument of saving heritage is true, however, only when we look at the how, when and where of artefact recovery.  Pulling on nearly two decades of work with detectorists from rallies to individuals, we can look at how to narrow the data gap, without taking the fun out of the hobby.

David Connolly

David has a long-standing career in the profession, having worked in archaeology since 1981, initially as a digger and later draughtsmen and surveyor. He has championed modernising methods, being one of the pioneers of buildings archaeology and one of the first within the heritage profession to suggest the mutually beneficial possibilities of co-operation between detectorists and archaeologists. Within the commercial archaeology circles, he has argued for  work and equality rights, as well as supporting a number of charitable schemes, such as the Enabled Group or Operation Nightingale. Amongst many other activities, David runs the British Archaeological Jobs Resource (BAJR) and its fieldwork arm, CHC Heritage.

Abstract: The Scottish Treasure Trove Unit processes thousands of archaeological finds made by the general public every year, the majority now made through metal detecting. This talk will explore how the Unit’s data can reveal patterns in metal detecting activity across Scotland and how it is changing over time. The growing treasure trove dataset also presents challenges in making finds information available to the Scottish heritage sector, international archaeological research and the general public while protecting it from misuse. The talk will also discuss the Unit’s development of a new online database to make this important strand of Scottish heritage data more accessible than ever before.

Antony Lee

Anthony is a Senior Treasure Trove Officer, based in the National Museum of Scotland. Anthony’s background is in archaeological museum curation, including 15 years managing the archaeological collections of Lincolnshire Museums. His research interests include exploring lived experiences of religion in Roman Britain, and the role of material culture in creating and expressing religious identities. He is fascinated by the influence the ancient world continues to exert on modern culture and identities, and has a particular interest in the presentation and dissemination of archaeological research to wider audiences, especially through museums and heritage sites.

Abstract: Since June 2024, the Knowledge Centre for Intangible Heritage in the Netherlands (KIEN) has included the hobby of metal-detecting as an intangible cultural heritage on its national Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage, allowing it the same status and understanding as other embodied practices such as the traditional distillation of jenever and the West Frisian language. What this means on the ground for the detectorists practicing this intangible heritage is still to be explored, including questions over the type of data that should be recorded by finds-reporting systems such as PAN (Portable Antiquities of the Netherlands), and the extent to which emotions, memories and other seemingly ephemeral phenomena connected to the hobby should be given more attention. In this paper I present on an ongoing collaborative project between the University of Antwerp, KU Leuven, the Meertens Institute and the Dutch Detecting Association, funded by the Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands, in which we work in the Dutch Province of Zeeland to observe, record and co-create around the personal meanings that detectorists attach to their finds. Involving students, heritage professionals and even a trained animator, we expect diverse results, revealing previously ignored or disregarded aspects of metal detecting. 

Suzie Thomas

Suzie is professor in Heritage Studies at the University of Antwerp. Originally from England, Suzie worked in Helsinki, Finland, for nearly eight years before moving to Antwerp in 2021. Since the time of her PhD she has worked with metal detectorists, and she is a founding member of the European Public Finds Recording Network. She also researches participatory methods in and approaches to cultural heritage; non-professional engagements with archaeological heritage, particularly by hobby metal detectorists; so-called ‘dark’ heritage; heritage crime. She participates in the Grounded Memories: Metal-detecting as mindful heritage in action project (www.uantwerpen.be/en/projects/grounded-memories/).

Abstract: During several years of systematic metal detecting by volunteers working with the Trimontium Museum (both detectorists and recorders), we’ve tried to develop approaches that work within a community archaeological setting but also develop an understanding of past landscapes. While this has given insights into ways archaeology and metal detecting can be integrated, it has also been a massive learning exercise for myself into how the information generated can be interpreted and extended. This presentation will use examples of metal detecting within the research of the Trimontium Trust to explore some of these wider questions.

Stuart Campbell

Stuart Campbell is professor of archaeology at the University of Manchester and Director of Archaeology for the Trimtonium Trust. Although from the Scottish Borders, his professional background is in the archaeology of the Middle East, from prehistory to the Islamic period, with an increasing engagement with the protection of cultural heritage and the role of heritage in community identity. In the last 4 years, he has returned to the archaeology of southern Scotland, with a focus on the Roman Iron Age and particularly the development of community archaeology programmes, including a very active group of detectorists. This has led to new research interests both in Matal detecting as an approach to landscape archaeology and to the role of the non-professional community in heritage knowledge production.

Abstract: (A paper by C. Seehusen, T.G. Mikkelsen, S.G. Høstrup and A.S. Dobat). The popularity of metal detecting has exploded in recent years. Detectorists play a significant role in the accumulation of valuable archaeological information, but until recently, this wealth of accumulated data was difficult to use for archaeologists.

DIME is a citizen science project invented at Aarhus University in Denmark to solve this: Detectorists upload information and images to an online database for sharing finds and keeping score. It also works as a tool for museums – thus fast-tracking archaeological data to be used by experts for research. Today, DIME is the largest such database in the world.

A different aspect of metal detecting as a practice is utilized in the research project “Veterans in Archaeology”. We show that metal detecting, and the community around it, can have positive effects on mental health among veterans suffering from PTSD. The programme rests on mentor-mentee relationships between experienced detectorists and veterans, centering on co-creation and long-term participation.

Christina Seehusen

Before joining the Veterans in Archaeology project in Aarhus (initiated by Andres Dobat), Christina had a background working in museum archaeology and fieldwork, including many years of close collaboration with metal detectorists. In addition to museum work, she made a TV series and directed a community-university programme in collaboration with detectorists. The Veterans in Archaeology project (cas.au.dk/en/veterans-in-archaeology) is a programme for veterans, investigating the potential for mental health improvements through archaeology and metal detecting. The DIME (”Digitale Metaldetektorfund”) project forms a database and registration system based on community involvement (/www.metaldetektorfund.dk/ny/).

Bridget McGill

Bridget is a former field archaeologist who spent 13 years working on projects across Scotland, from Shetland to Stranraer. Since 2024 she has been a keen metal detectorist and can be found most weekends detecting her own permissions in the Scottish Borders or participating in the wide variety of metal detecting events. She is dedicated to promoting best practices by detectorists and increasing their engagement with the Treasure Trove System and looks forward to bringing her perspectives and experience to Scottish Archaeological Finds Allocation Panel (SAFAP).

Abstract: It has been almost 30 years since the Treasure Act came into effect. Since that time, thousands of objects found by metal detectorists have been declared as treasure and subsequently acquired by museums across England and Wales.

This talk reflects on some of the successes and challenges of the Treasure Act. It will also consider the importance of non-Treasure finds discovered and recorded by metal detectorists for archaeology and museums, drawing on the speaker’s own experiences of PhD research in Wales and in their current role at Manchester Museum.

Chris Griffiths

Chris is the Curator of Archaeology Collections at Manchester Museum, responsible for the care of over 50,000 objects. Before joining Manchester Museum, Chris was a doctoral researcher at the University of Reading and Amgueddfa Cymru – Museum Wales. He completed his PhD in 2025, focusing on Bronze Age hoarding practices in south-east and west Wales. His research was grounded in collaborative fieldwork, working closely with metal-detectorists and landowners in the co-production of archaeological knowledge. He is currently involved in ongoing research into later prehistoric depositional practices, including the Rewilding Later Prehistory Project, which challenges traditional human-centred histories of Bronze and Iron Age Britain.

Abstract: Fieldwalking has long provided archaeology with a systematic means of identifying, recovering and spatially recording artefacts from the ground surface. Metal detecting extends this principle into the three-dimensional investigation of the topsoil, excavated spits and exposed surfaces, identifying metal coins and artefacts not visible at the surface.

SPIAS, Systematic, Partial and Intensive Artefact Survey, develops this approach through a consistent methodology, applying controlled levels of investigation according to project requirements.

This paper considers the role of the Practitioner Detectorist and systematic metal detecting as a non-intrusive archaeological evaluation technique. Applied alongside fieldwalking and geophysical survey, it can provide dating evidence to support interpretation, identify artefact distributions and, critically, recover vulnerable material culture before mechanical excavation. The archaeological value of this approach was demonstrated at Sutton Hoo, where systematic detecting located the missing base of the Bromeswell Bucket, ensuring its protection from subsequent mechanical excavation.

Keith Westcott

A former Chair of the British Standards Institute in the Heating and Energy Sector, Keith founded the Detectorist Institute and Foundation (thedif.org.uk/) in 2017 to support embedding detecting techniques into professional archaeological practice and promoting detectorists as essential members of archaeological teams. Keith is an experienced metal detectorist of over 30 years, who recorded finds with museums before the start of the Portable Antiquities Scheme. He joined Time Team, as their first detectorist team member, in 2021.

Abstract: Over the last few decades, the efforts of metal detectorists have contributed positively to many aspects of archaeology, numismatics, and indeed heritage in its widest sense, but arguably it is in the field of conflict archaeology where the impact of wide-area metal prospection has been most deeply felt. Beginning with the first large-scale explorations in the USA by Doug Scott and Richard Fox (1989) at the Little Bighorn site in south-eastern Montana, the technique has been applied to conflicts across continents and time periods. 

This presentation highlights three episodes of conflict from Roman-period Britain, where metal detecting has completely transformed our understanding.

John Reid

John Reid has had a lifelong interest in the activities of the Roman army in North Britain. Originally intending to study classics or archaeology, he was diverted into a career in medicine. He has worked as a medicolegal adviser to the Central Legal Office and a cardiothoracic radiology adviser to the Chief Medical Officer for Scotland and the United Nations Atomic Energy Agency. He has also been Chair of Trimontium Trust for thirty years. He has a particular interest in the ballistic capabilities of the Roman army and also the cultural interface between citizen science and academia. He has been a detectorist for over half a century.