The Portable Antiquities Scheme website is now on-line at
http://www.finds.org.uk
Includes a database of the finds from the first year of the scheme.
David Dawson
* * * *
DEPARTMENT FOR CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT
DCMS 75/99 24 March 1999
PROTECTING THE NATION'S BURIED TREASURE
More than 13,500 archeological items were found and recorded in the
first year of a pioneering Government scheme to register historical
finds, a new report launched today by Arts Minister Alan Howarth
reveals.
Six pilot schemes were set up to promote the voluntary recording of
finds in Kent, Norfolk, North Lincolnshire, the North West, the West
Midlands and Yorkshire. The Annual Report gives full details of the
first year and illustrates some of the many finds that have been
recorded, including an extremely rare 7th Century Anglo-Saxon gold
and garnet cross from Holderness, East Yorkshire."
Speaking at the British Museum on the launch of the 1997/98 Report on
the Portable Antiquities Scheme and the scheme's new Website, Alan
Howarth thanked everyone who had helped to make the scheme a success
and said:
"Every year thousands of objects are discovered, mostly by metal
detector users, but also by people out walking or digging in their
gardens. These finds are one of the most important new sources for
understanding our past, yet until recently only a few were recorded
by museums or archaeologists. This meant that important and
irreplaceable information about the nation's past was being lost for
ever.
"The Government accepted that there was an urgent need for action and
introduced the Portable Antiquities Scheme in October 1997. The
prospects for the scheme are very exciting and show how tangibly my
Department is working to improve access to our archaeological
heritage."
The highlights of the first year of the scheme are:
* over 13,500 archaeological objects found by nearly 1,000 finders
were recorded, including a rare gold and garnet cross from the 7th
Century;
* six liaison officer posts for finds were established in Kent,
Norfolk, North Lincolnshire, the North West, the West Midlands and
Yorkshire;
* regular contact is maintained between the liaison officers and
47 metal detecting clubs;
and
* a Portable Antiquities Website, at www.finds.org.uk containing
details of finds has been developed.
NOTES FOR EDITORS
1. Media copies of the Annual Report for 1997/98 on the Portable
Antiquities Scheme are obtainable from Brian Stevenson on 0171 211
6272.
2. Members of the public requiring a copy of the report should
telephone 0171 211 6200.
Department for Culture, Media and Sport
2-4 Cockspur Street
London SW1Y 5DH
http://www.culture.gov.uk
David Dawson
Museums New Technology Adviser, Museums and Galleries Commission
tel: 0171 233 4200, email: [log in to unmask]
see the Sharing Museums Skills Millennium Awards website -
http://www.smsma.org.uk
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
|