Many archaeologists consider metal detectorists looters who shouldn’t be allowed anywhere near their labs or dig sites, but Dr. McBride has a different view. “We call them Jedi masters,” Dr. McBride said, pointing out that detectorists had found about 80 percent of the artifacts cataloged in the project. If this spot had not been found until now, and it took a metal detectorist to find it, Mr. Wille asked: Would it sway the negative opinion that other archaeologists have of metal detectorists? Mr. Wille fetched his detector from the car, wanting to use the remaining daylight to search the area more thoroughly. “A lot of important archaeological sites have been damaged beyond any future scientific use by metal detectorists,” Dr. Jones said.

Source: New York Times January 16, 2017 19:30 UTC