Hardly a constructive reply as seeding would create bigger issues in the future greater than the negligible issue being resolved.oldfossil wrote:jcmaloney wrote:Simple solution........ teams of detectorists work the site in hand with archaeologists marking targets which can then be "surgically excavated" on uncultivated sites and recorded/documented.
No targets = no nighthawks. Its been done already in Norfolk (on ploughed land) and the result is more recorded knowledge and theft has stopped completely.
Nighthawkers target scheduled sites ... targets or no targets ... thats what they do ... they are mostly thick..
So seed sites that have been geofizzed to death ... and let the hawkers dig to their hearts content ... I assure you they will stop very quickly...
Seeding sites means that they get a signal every few swings ... even a complete idiot wouldnt detect those conditions ... so problem solved... What is the alternative??? You want the archis to let you dig Stonehenge? in your dreams me thinks
The majority of such heritage crime is caused by some turnip buying a machine from Maplins and toddling off to their local SAM.
Restricting supply of machines to specialist shops where the retailer can run through the law/rules with a purchaser would have a greater impact.
Take air weapons as an example ... you can`t buy them in Tesco`s you have to go to a specialist retailer where there is a level of control. Likewise you can`t sell/buy such restricted items on ebay etc.