Today saw the team visit a brand new permission in Lincolnshire.

The farm has several features such as a Medieval church, a Roman villa, a Bronze Age feature and an Iron Age or Romano-British settlement.

The first survey area was the Roman villa site which looked quite promising from the documentation. The landowner stated that there wasn't much        evidence to support the theory of a villa and not much had been found      metal-detecting previously. The archaeological papers say otherwise.

We marked out the "villa" perimeter and set out to discover what evidence   that may be there.
Some lead items were found, some of them quite large, with 29 fragments  of Roman pottery and one piece of Medieval pottery. No Samian Ware was amongst the assemblage which would be odd for a Roman villa site.
Part of a Roman "T" style fibula, a Roman buckle and an extremely rare      head of a bronze statuette were recovered. This was a contradiction in        terms of villa/settlement status as there is usually Samian Ware on high     status sites but finding a bronze statuette on site is puzzling.
Another puzzle was that there wasn't any coinage whatsoever in the area.
We are currently trying to ascertain the identity of the bust which is quite     exciting as this is a first bronze figurine for the team. 
​Initial results and thoughts are Mars and Vulcan.

The next area to come under the spotlight was a 115ft circular feature that    looked to be Bronze Age. 
Nothing could be seen at ground level so the centre was marked out and an overlapping square was gridded. No metallic signals were encountered.

The third area was a wheat stubble field right up against the church but       again, not many metallic items were recovered. The stubble was quite a      challenge too.
The draw of the field of which the landowner had mentioned that was full of Roman pottery was too much of a temptation........

The fourth field was roughly ploughed but again, very sandy and soft.
We thought it might be worth using the machines as well as fieldwalking as you never know what might be on top of the furrows.
This is something that we have never done as it is normally rolled and         drilled but it just seemed "right" to do.
We set off in three different directions as this was only a recce and we found the field very soft to walk on.
There was quite a lot of pottery, both Medieval and Roman but not many     metallic signals due to the field conditions. 
After ten minutes there was a call on the two-way radio, "I think I have found my first Celtic gold". With that, Rob and I went over to see what all the fuss was all about. Sure enough, Robin was holding a Corieltauvi gold stater in   his hand! 
Although not many metallic finds were recovered here, several pieces of    Roman and Medieval pottery was found.
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The gods were smiling on us, with the head of the bronze god statuette and the gold stater, the day was a very strange mix of emotions indeed, other     than that, not much else appeared.

We agree with the landowner regarding his suspicions about the Roman     "villa", his thoughts are that the villa wasn't there for that long.
Not much ferrous, not much lead nor any coinage at all point to a very short occupation on this site.

Quite a lot of worked flint was recovered from both the "villa" site and the     roughly ploughed field showing that man was here 4,500 years previously.
Three almost perfectly round stones were found, one on the "villa" site and   two on the roughly ploughed field.

​HD images of the days finds can be seen here.

Background
 
In 2016, we were approached by an archaeologist who works within the circles of The British Museum.
He asked if it was possible to arrange a meeting with the landowner of one of our sites and gain permission for a full archaeological dig to take place there.
That meeting took place in November 2016 between all parties and the fundamental structure for the dig was designed. The landowner was asked where they could dig, he answered “you’re the experts, you tell me”.
 
With that, the dig happened and we were so proud and excited to see a full excavation happen on one of our permissions.
The equipment was craned in and the JCB arrived to cut the very first of three trenches that were assigned to cover crop marks identified during the research phase carried out earlier.
 
Over the week there were several different archaeologists and “volunteer diggers” on-site and each of them were amazed at the amount of finds that we had collected. They asked how long it had taken to accumulate such a large number of finds? …….. 20 months was the answer!
With that, another archaeologist asked if we were married? I replied “no, we just detect together”.
 
Family Days
 
On one of the days a “Family” session was held where all family members from 6 years upwards took part in the actual excavation and also learnt about metal-detection and the huge part it played in the excavation taking place.
 
The initial Trench Cutting
 
The JCB cut into the first 12 inches or so which was basically down into the sub-soil and 2 inches below the maximum plough depth of 10 inches.
The excavator driver very kindly spread the spoil heap out across the field surface so that we could fully explore what may have been missed on our previous surveys.
We couldn’t wait to see what may lie in the spoil heaps as this would show up any small coins such as cut-quarters or halves and other items that were obscured due to all the myriad of factors mentioned on all the metal-detecting forums since time dot.
We estimated that the initial spoil heaps consisted of 6.9mtr³ or 6,900 litres or 244 cubic feet of soil dug out by the JCB which represents the maximum detectable layer that is in range/just out of range of machines currently used on arable land.
 
No metallic finds whatsoever were discovered in the spoil heaps created by the JCB! Perhaps testament to the efficiency of how a carefully structured 100% coverage strategy pays dividends?
 
The Main Excavation
 
The archaeologists then started the painstaking process of trowelling back the trench base and it wasn’t long before structures and “features” started to show up.
All three trenches had differing features, some showing up as changes in soil colours and textures, others as solid evidence such as building material.
Trench 3 for instance had a collapsed wall with huge animal bones within it. The dates have yet to be determined but some great C13th to C14th pottery came up from ditch fill soil in the trench.
Trench 3 also had a ditch 5 metres wide and all trenches had other ditches intersecting each other.
 
The trench walls, base and spoil heaps were constantly checked for any items missed on our previous surveys. Nothing metallic was found, again showing that nothing was missed during our surveys but perhaps more importantly, nothing had “sunk” to a depth which is out or range to all detectors.
 
On the last day, trench 2 was scanned and two Medieval dress hooks were found, both almost identical.
One came from the ramp leading into the trench and was at a depth of 20 inches (below the plough and sub-soil), the other from a depth of 3 feet! Both items well out of range of today’s machines.
The deeper dress hook appeared to be in the ditch fill context and was deposited into an older existing ditch.
 
So, from a field that has produced several Medieval finds, even some Roman coins and artefacts, the only metallic finds were two dress hooks! These were beyond detecting range so we were cheating in a way!
There were no cut-quarters, cut-halves or coins such as Henry III pennies, denarii or buckles etc so obviously nothing was going to “magic” its way to within coil range as it doesn’t exist.
The fact is that 55 to 60 tonnes of carefully excavated soil didn’t produce any metallic finds.
 
We all know that finds in a field are finite and there will be a point were once it was justifiable to travel several miles/hours to a field, but the time will come that the field will have to be laid to rest.
Unless of course you live next door to it, then it’s always worth the time-out to have a walk around and let the magic of imagination run away with you.
As we’ve said many times, we wouldn’t travel the distances we cover just for one cut-quarter.
 
In addition, we had an experienced overseas visitor who had a Minelab CTX 3030 but couldn’t find anything either!
 
Conclusion
 
We have found that if a field isn’t covered 100% (as per our previous posts) targets will be missed.
 
Indeed, and we are just as guilty as others in not covering an area 100% as we’ve surveyed areas that it was nigh on impossible to keep an accurate track on where you are up to, due to crop alignment, or mis-alignment to be more accurate.
This may equate to a maximum 90% coverage ratio meaning that:
 1,619 mtr² of the 4-acre field …..or 0.4-acres had been totally missed.
 
1,619 mtr² is a huge area so it’s easy to see why an unstructured search pattern will result in missed items. This is why a field that hasn’t been covered 100% “will always keep giving”, …….well up to a certain point anyway.
 
As we’ve seen in several other posts, some detectorists may have doubts about their abilities and their machines’ capabilities but hopefully this example may show that, on the whole, no signals equal no targets, as simple as that.
 
As can be seen, in the 30 cubic metres of soil removed or 30,000 litres or 1,060 cubic feet of soil (approx. 55 to 60 tonnes) that were meticulously scanned, nothing was found.
So, there were no items at all squirreled away in there somewhere that may “magically materialise” on another future visit as they didn’t exist in the first place.
Items recovered on subsequent visits to a field that has already searched have simply been missed or the target was out of range of the machines capability.
 
The lesson here is don’t get stressed out if you’re not finding anything, move on until you do find something! Ignore all the myths/urban legends and trust your machine, after all, it doesn’t have an imagination, it just follows fact.
 
There are two facts that help in successful detecting and increased confidence:
 

1. Is there anything there at all?
2. 100% coverage will give an accurate background to the history there.

 
Whether or not a cut-quarter is on its edge or any of the myriad of excuses as to why an object isn’t recovered only adds another layer of “myth” or uncertainty that will always exist, and add fuel to the “what if” phycology.
If you survey a field 100% and it produces one Henry III penny, it’s all down to the individual as to how much effort and expense you want to spend finding any further artefacts or coinage within that field?
 
Sifting through 55 to 60 tons of soil, carefully excavated from a superb Medieval site proved it for me.
 
​Images of the excavation can be seen here.
 
 
 
 
 

This is perhaps THE most complex part of the the whole five-part formula and is critical to achieving full potential in achieving the the aims and dreams of all detectorists.

1. The recovery process starts with the first and most critical part of the formula being realised, and that is; does history or indeed artefacts actually exist in the field/area you are about to search or seek permission?
2. The next important factor is to quantify that history does exist there, and then, how many artefacts actually exist in that field and within the range of your machines search coil and capabilities. One of the biggest problems in metal-detecting circles is that detectorists imagine finds such as hammered coinage, Roman coinage, gold coins and other "dream" finds may exist in many of their fields. Unfortunately, and sadly, this isn't the case as most fields only have modern history within them such as pre-decimal coinage, modern coinage and rubbish. 
3. After points 1 and 2 have been satisfied this, above all, is essential; and that is to ensure that most finds are recovered from a field or area by ensuring that there is 100% coverage of that field or area. There will be very little missed if the disciplined methods are followed which are written in another section.
4. The best results are realised when carrying out a structured survey pattern as per the recoveries displayed on our Flickr site. A structured survey also helps with any return visits as your last search pattern is recorded accurately enabling a precise starting point for the next survey. Once this structured pattern is owned, success is only a matter of time. ​
5. Above all, if no evidence is identified by fieldwalking, or signals via metal-detecting, then a decision has to be made whether or not to revisit that particular field/area in the future. 
6. Field conditions, geology and machine capability may influence results to a very slight degree but the survey will accurately indicate the overall historical content of the land surveyed. It all depends on how much effort/expense you wish to expend on the remaining land you have at your disposal however, no signals will almost certainly indicate a very low chance of anything of historical value existing there.
7. Once finds of historical value are recovered the next stage is to clean, photograph and conserve them.
8. Once photographed and recorded the cycle is complete.

After the "Research" phase the next exciting stage is the request for permission and hopefully, a positive answer from the prospective landowner.
After all, your research has shown that there may be a Romano-British or Medieval settlement there!

As seen on many forums, there are many ways to ask for permission, whether that be face-to-face, letter, telephone call or email.
Some people don't feel comfortable with a face-to-face meeting so may write a letter instead. 

Unfortunately, this phase of the formulae can be quite disheartening when a permission is rejected. 
​This is where resolve is needed and a strong motivation to move on and look forward to the next request. After all, it may be a yes.

We revisited the four-acre wheat field that had been freshly harvested with the straw still on the ground in rows that ran in various directions.

Our last visit saw us recover two hammered coins and a superb Medieval buckle with its roller still attached!

The sun was out and it felt a tad warm with no breeze at all.
Due to the uneven lines of wheat stubble it was decided to run out the line to keep us in check and serve as a guide.
The first run produced a Tealby cut-half and C16th thimble and this was in an area we'd already covered. Obviously, the rows of straw covering this area at the time.
We continued to use the line whilst traversing the field west to east to about two thirds in. One of the team surveyed the southern end of the field covering the area where our lines ended.

The landowners wife and two sons came over to see us and see what we'd found. She left us to walk her new dog that was full of energy and one of the sons stayed with us for a short while.

C13th - C14th pottery was recovered from the field surface along with three lovely flint scrapers, two being nice examples of leaf blades whilst the other was a thumb scraper.

Due to the small amount of signals, we managed to cover the whole 4-acre field with ease taking in every square foot of land.

Of the relatively few non-ferrous signals the finds were quite nice.
A Charles II half-penny in quite good condition and a Queen Victoria "Bun-head" penny (1860) in a stunning condition.
Medieval buckles were found with a "Mickey Mouse" type buckle complete with its roller but minus the rest of it! A superb example of an early strapend buckle and plate, that had been gold gilded, came to light.
Three hammered coins were also recovered, the Tealby cut-half, a well clipped coin of possibly Richard II and a superb example of an Edward I penny minted in London.

Full HD images can be seen here.

For technically minded we used the following:
Déus V4.1 & V3.2
9" HF & 9" standard coils and the 11" coil 
GMP standard
XP MI-6 Probes
​Garrett Pinpointer

Today we paid a visit to an existing permission but to a field that we'd never set foot in. The field was drilled with OSR and 42-acres in size.

Rob and I used the 13" coils in V4 and Robin the 11" coil in V3.2 using GMP standard.
We travelled down the entire western edge of the field (half-a-mile) with only a few bits in the first half, mainly lead and copper fragments.
It was only in the second half of the field were it started to get a little busier.
Lots of small ferrous signals were being received so it looked as though we may be onto a settlement of some kind.
The first coin was a silvered Roman numus and it wasn't long before a few other roman coins started to emerge. There were some sherds of Roman grey ware and even a couple of Medieval pottery sherds on the field surface. There was even a fragment of Bronze Age pottery for good measure.
We were certain that a settlement may exist due to the amount of lead and ferrous signals as well as the mineralisation of the soil.
Because the field is over 42-acres in size we decided to use our proven "Zebra" search pattern to quickly locate the settlement area.
We have used this system several times with great success and once again it helped locate the area of the settlement in this field.
We resumed our normal search pattern over the highlighted zone and enjoyed the following results:

Twenty-six Roman coins including two nice denarii, a Spanish (Real) silver Cob, two Roman fibulae, a nice Medieval strapend, three lead animals, a Civil War musket ball, a bespoke lead seal, lots of buttons and lead bullets were recovered!

We decided to call it a day and kick off the wellies.
Whilst doing so, I got a WhattsApp message from the landowner. He'd sent a picture of a lovely Roman fibula that a local detectorist had found. I said we'd come over and have a look at it if he was home. 
This was the first time that I'd met the landowner in the four years that I'd known him, although we only visit infrequently.
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He was extremely surprised that we'd found anything at all as "millions" had already searched that field. Obviously, the field had been saturated with detectorists over the years hence his remarks and amazement at the amount we'd found. He added that that the previous detectorists must not have been that good? We however think that they'd done a good job over those years but it just goes to show that a structured approach will pay dividends. It will be interesting to see if we find much after the next plough session.

We'll be writing an article that may shed some light on the perception of what lies beneath your feet and if it is detectable.

For HD images of the days finds please visit here.

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"Fact & Fiction", this is a good starting point in the journey that most detectorists question. Quite simply, is it fact or fiction that there still exists ancient British history just a few inches below our feet, even after at least 50 years of metal-detecting? The fact is; yes. As we have seen from The Portable Antiquities Scheme, metal-detecting forums and the news, lots of metallic items are still being recovered from all over Britain.

Now that we've established the fact that there is indeed history beneath our feet, we can move on to stage one of the process and the most important phase; Research. This will greatly improve in pinpointing the remaining artefacts that still lay in those few inches of soil that cover our country.
After all, most people do their research when buying a house, car, TV, insurance and metal-detectors.
​We don't rely solely on "Lady Luck" in spending several fruitless hours looking for that elusive Roman brooch or hammered coin.

There are many sources of information that may help in the tracking down and recovery of our precious heritage. In fact, the list is fairly extensive and the research aspect itself is a complete "package". 
As we all know, we can access paper documents or indeed, electronic documentation too along with many, many other sources available..
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I personally find this initial stage much fun, and a challenge at the same time, which can be undertaken as and when you please in the comfort of your own home, or man-cave. It is also a great opportunity to share the research fun between others if you are part of a team, forum or club.

The team at Priscan Archaeology share all our individually acquired information via Skype during our frequent joint research sessions. This is a great asset for us in sharing ideas, info, files and pictures with ease and in real-time. It's like having our own personal club meeting without having to leave home.

Research has been central to the success we've experienced and has certainly helped others in finding their dream finds.
In the housing market "location, location, location" are the three key factors.
With successful metal-detecting "research, research, research" is the key.

After all, when it's dark, cold, wet and miserable outside (hundreds of hours here in the UK) you can spend many enjoyable hours inside where its warm and cosy, whether that be in your own home or a lovely museum.






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This weekend was going to be a tester for our first outing in the campervan and the possibility of trying two new permissions.
The camper may help in cutting down driving time and fuel bills by being able to visit a site/s over two days.

Our first port of call was to a site that has produced several Medieval coins and artefacts on the first two visits back in 2013.
The third visit two tears ago only produced a small amount of artefacts and the conclusion was that it hadn't been ploughed, it had in fact been drilled directly. 
This latest visit was the fourth to the 4-acre wheat field which had just been harvested, with the straw still laid in rows, of which we used as lanes to follow. This meant that 50% of the field was covered in straw and 95% of the field surface was concealed with wheat chaff.

​After three-and-a-half hours between the three of us, we only recovered two hammered coins, one C13th buckle and two Medieval jug handles.
As a benchmark, this field produced THREE Sainsbury's carrier bags full of Medieval pottery from just one visit in 2013!
The conclusion was that the field had again only been cultivated and not ploughed. 
We're hopefully calling in next week to have a chat with the landowner to ask if it is going to be ploughed or not. If it's being drilled directly again, we'll be giving it a miss for a couple of years.

After lunch we decided to try a new permission that we suspected may be a Roman settlement.
We arrived and met with the landowner who said that metal-detectorists have been coming for 25 years. He said that lots of Roman coins, brooches and some denarii had been found. The field we were interested in was next door to the "detected" field and was claimed to be un-detected.

The three of us spent FOUR hours and covered most of the field with only 5 Roman coins to show. We could tell that, due to the lack of lead and large signals, this field had also been detected for at least 25 years.
We called it a day and wondered what the plan was for the next day.

Oddly enough, the next trip was to some pasture on a permission we were searching the other week. We didn't find much other than modern coinage and rubbish.

Another site was required ....so we travelled to our fourth permission in two days which was on wheat stubble.
This produced more Roman coins and lots of modern items.
This site covers the corner of a Roman settlement which we discovered a couple of years ago.

The settlement runs into our fifth permission of the weekend which is just next door.
We know that the stubble on permission 5 is the result of direct drilling so we were confident that we wouldn't find much.
Sure enough, no finds were recovered from the areas that we had surveyed when the field was ploughed the year before.
This shows that the land had not compacted to any degree, therefore not producing any more finds/signals.
​We are now hoping that this field is ploughed this year and may produce more Roman artefacts and coins?

We are confident that if you're not getting many signals it is purely down to the simple fact that there isn't anything there within range.
The examples above show that if a field has been covered for 25 years, or it's been surveyed efficiently and not re-ploughed, the recovery rate will be severely reduced to a bare minimum.

I've read a few posts written by detectorists, some very recently,  that are doubting their ability or machine. There is no need to be concerned, simply believe in your machine as it will find targets that are within the range of the coil.
If there's a cut-quarter on its edge, then so be it. All the other targets won't be on their edges as well!

We'll be writing an article shortly supporting the two previous paragraphs.
This will show just how effective efficient coverage can be, and that any doubts about ability or machine capability should diminish completely.

High Definition images can be viewed on the following three links:
Here, here and here.
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