Over the past few years, there’s been a rash of aggressive police raids and legal action taken against artifact collectors and hobbyists. This has been part of a national effort to enforce laws prohibiting private citizens from illegally obtaining and collecting cultural artifacts―predominantly Native American artifacts. Read more
The question “who owns archaeological artifacts?” isn’t one that’s easily answered. The United States, and each state within, has its own laws concerning ownership rights to archaeological artifacts. Most of these laws, like the Archaeological Resources Protection Act of 1979, have a distinct year that separates which objects belong to the federal or state government, and which are permissible to be lawfully owned by the public. Read more
While metal detecting farmland close to his home in Staffordshire, England, Terry Herbert, an unemployed metal detecting enthusiast, stumbled on the largest, most jaw-dropping discovery of Anglo-Saxon gold and silver metalwork ever found, anywhere in the world. Read more