http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4785-1078
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Abstract
Across Eastern Europe, professional archaeologists and metal detectorists testify that some archaeological sites have been emptied of metal objects, despite significant efforts to combat illicit trafficking of cultural objects. Yet there is little empirical evidence in relation to the scale of the problem within countries or its comparative scale between countries in the region. This paper presents open-source analysis of membership of online forums and social networks, as well as other empirical indicators, such as sales and ownership of metal detectors. It identifies and contradicts speculation and propaganda from archaeologists and detectorists, then offers empirical evidence in their place. It suggests the activity of at least 14,910 illicit detectorists in Belarus (around 1 in 638 residents), 54,066 illicit detectorists in Poland (around 1 in 702 residents), 26,377 illicit detectorists in Ukraine (around 1 in 1706 residents) and 75,158 illicit detectorists in Russia (around 1 in 1921 residents). It suggests that, in many of the worst-affected communities, above and beyond the technicalities of permissive, restrictive, or prohibitive regulation, the most important factors in the preservation of archaeological knowledge may be the economy and the rule of law.
ORCID
Samuel Andrew Hardy http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4785-1078
Note on contributor
Dr Sam Hardy is Honorary Research Associate at the Institute of Archaeology, University College London. He researches illicit trafficking and profiteering from illicit trafficking of cultural objects in conflict zones and crisis zones; conducts open-source analysis of cultural property crime; and assists in capacity-building for the fight against illicit trafficking of cultural goods in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). He blogs research and analysis of the conflict antiquities trade and other aspects of the illicit antiquities trade: https://conflictantiquities.wordpress.com/
Notes
1 ‘ne viyavlyaye zhodnogo metalevogo predmeta’.
2 ‘to seichas mozhno voobshche nichego ne naiti’.
3 ‘budet nekuda poekhat’.
4 ‘litaralna, pustuyu’.
5 ‘putevoditelyami dlya grabitelskikh ekspeditsii’.
6 ‘ekonomichnoyu skrutoyu y nigilizmom’.
7 ‘shukachiv metaliv’.
8 ‘aktivno narastat’.
9 ‘potuzhnyy prosharok zamozhnykh kolektsioneriv’.
10 ‘vkladaty koshty v nezakonni rozkopky’.
11 ‘Rizke zbilshennya’.
12 ‘Strimkogo rozvytky’.
13 ‘amatorsky Internet-resursy’.
14 ‘Na rossiiskii rinok oni intensivno khlinuli’.
15 ‘analogichnogo uzhestocheniya norm v Zapadnoi Evrope’.
16 ‘v Rossii zaeto vremya prodano okolo 30 tis. ustroistv’.
17 ‘na garyachomu’.
18 ‘sluchaino’.
19 ‘namerevalsya sdat’.
20 ‘usi rechi buli nepochishchenimi [ … ] z naplichnika — na vitrinu’.
21 ‘perenasychenyy’.
22 ‘desyatky tysyach’.
23 ‘suveniri’.
24 ‘spetsiyalizavaniya saiti i internet-forumi z pakazalnimi nazvami (Belskarb, Belklad)’.
25 ‘svoeasabliviya klyubi dlya amatarau metalaposhuku’.
26 Unless otherwise stated, membership statistics for all online communities are correct as of 3 November 2017.
27 ‘Serii kopatel’.
28 ‘Kladoiskateli bivshego SSSR, davaite obedinyatsya!’.
29 ‘Metallodetektori s dostvkoi po SNG’.
30 ‘Vstrechi, klubi, sovmestnii kop – regioni’.
31 ‘na rukakh u naseleniya desyatki tisyach metallodetektorov’.
32 ‘u nashai kraine na rukakh kapalnikau yak minimum 200 tisyach metaladetektarau’.
33 ‘forum drevnei kulturi i iskusstva, galereya drevnostei’.
34 ‘szacunek minimum’.
35 ‘desyatki tisyach’.
36 ‘sotni tisyach, a to i millioni’.
37 ‘ot polytora do dvykh millionov’.
38 ‘ot odnogo do dvykh millionov’.
39 ‘neskolko millionov’.
40 ‘falshivie dannie’.
41 ‘vpervie prozvuchali’.
42 ‘pisma v zashchytu glupogo “khobby”’.
43 ‘ikh prodano po Rossii uzhe okolo 2 millionov shtuk, Znachit mozhno utverzhdat [ … ] chit li ne dva milliona “kopatelei”’.
44 ‘k nachalu 2011 goda na rukakh u rossiyan bilo okolo 2 millionov edinits podobnoi tekhniki’.
45 ‘za proshedshin god’.
46 ‘v Rossii bilo prodano bole 2 millionov metalloiskatelei’.
47 ‘grazhdane pokupayut ikh s yavnoi tselyu — zanimatsya nezakonnimi raskopkami’.
48 ‘chastnie litsa priobreli 2 milliona metallodetektorov dlya poiska monet i ukrashenii’.
49 ‘Po imeyushchimsya dannim, v Rossii bilo prodano bole dvykh millionov metallodetektorov’.
50 ‘u nas 500 tisyach metalloiskatelei prodali’.
51 ‘Po slovam ekspertov [ … ] bilo kupleno bole milliona metallodetektorov’.
52 ‘minimum polovinu iz nikh ispolzuyut “chernie kopateli”’.
53 ‘na segodnyashnii den [ … ] prodano okolo 5 millionov metalloiskatelei’.
54 ‘po menshei mere 20 tisyach sobstvennikov metallodetektornoi apparaturi’.
55 ‘sotni’.
56 ‘desyatkyv tysyach’; ‘desyatky tysyach’.
57 ‘ponad 100 000’.
58 ‘sotni tysyach’.
59 ‘drugaya strana’.
60 ‘aktyvnikh kladoyskateley, kollektsyonerov, tsenyteley drevnosty y lyubyteley [ … ] artefaktov ystoryy’.
61 Based on 2238 online detectorists who were identified by open-source analysis (Karl & Möller, 2016: 4, table 2), it was previously estimated that there were at least 2091 active detectorists amongst 8,584,926 people (1 in 4106) in Austria (Hardy, Citation2017a: 23, table 10); based on that forum’s 2957-member community at the time of the other estimates (Ferrum Noricum, Citation2016), it may be estimated that there were at least 2762 active detectorists.
62 These data were collected over 11–16 October 2016. They will have changed since then, but significant comparative analysis must await further data collection for numerous other countries, and it would be unhelpful to publish different numbers for all countries with every publication of any region.
63 ‘tisyachi lotiv’.
64 ‘sotnyami milioniv’.
65 ‘90 proc. pochodziły z nielegalnych wykopalisk’.
66 ‘khobi’.
67 ‘biznes’.
68 ‘mayzhe nikhto nichogo ne kupuye’.
69 ‘starozhytnosti’.
70 ‘osnovnom’.
71 skarbashukalnik.
72 poszukiwaczy skarbów.
73 kladoiskateli.
74 shukachi skarbiv.
75 ‘drevnie moneti’.
76 ‘niespotykane do tej pory tempo wydobywania monet’.
77 ‘po złotówce za sztukę’.
78 ‘naybilshe’.
79 ‘pokhovannya nimetskykh soldativ’.
80 ‘navit iz serednim rivnem statkiv’.
81 ‘naydeshevshyy’.
82 ‘mozhna zarobyty’.
83 ‘za den’.
84 ‘proponuyut yikh na bud-yakyy smak ta vmist gamantsya’.
85 ‘z reguły nieprzestrzegane’.
86 ‘zazwyczaj nieskuteczne’.
87 ‘Nikto ne vibrosit na pomoiku dorogostoyashchii pribor’.
88 ‘ne zmenshuyetsya’.
89 ‘maizhe povnistyu zgornuto’.
90 ‘korumpovanymy’.
91 ‘pravovyy nigilizm’; ‘pravovogo nigilizmy’.
92 ‘beznakazannosti’.
93 ‘polska skłonność do obchodzenia zakazów’.
94 ‘nie akceptują’.
95 ‘własność publiczną’.
96 ‘neinteresni v silu ikh zauryanosti’.
97 ‘brekhnya dlya napravlennya potoku koshtiv u sviy kut koryta’.
98 ‘poważnych nieprzyjemnośći’.
99 ‘Gotuysya zystrichaty gostey’.
100 ‘Nashe oruzhie — obrez, metalloiskatel i starii dzhip [ … ] Nasha nagrada — tisyach “evro” za starinnie ikoni, rzhavie shtiki i ordena, starie moneti i antikvarnie dragotsennosti, poliistlevshie fotografii i dokumenti, cherepa i ordena davno pogibshikh soldat i ofitserov.’
101 ‘izgnaniya [ … ] s obektov raskopok pod ugrozoi nasiliya’.
102 ‘nepokhytno protydiyav pryvatnym myslyvtsyam za starozhytnostyamy’.
103 ‘propav’.
104 ‘buv ubytyy [ … ] skupnykamy zolota’.
105 ‘dorogu natsionalistychnomu kolektsionerstvu’.
106 ‘poryatunok’.
107 ‘rozkopky’.
108 ‘misyachna zarobitna plata inspektora-darmoyida tse dva-try predmety shcho mayut istorychnu tsinnist’.
109 ‘chy ne naybilsh prybutkovym biznesom’.