Nighthawks hitting historic UK sites

[Adsos Letter]

Source: Independent UK
Chris Greenwood

Britain's archaeological heritage is being plundered by illegal metal detector users who face little danger of being caught, a report said today.

The first comprehensive national survey of its kind revealed thieves armed with state-of-the-art equipment are raiding some of the nation's most sensitive heritage sites.

Researchers found knowledgeable criminals, dubbed nighthawks, are using auction websites such as eBay to cash in on what was once an illicit hobby.

Police said some thieves have formed loosely-connected networks who trade information, often in online forums, about new and vulnerable sites.

One senior Kent officer said there have been cases of farmers being threatened after confronting groups of men trespassing on their land at night.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/nighthawks-hitting-historic-uk-sites-1623147.html

[Adsos Letter]

1. ...link works now...

:blush:

[MADem]

2. I lived on a farm in UK with a big huge burial mound out in one of the fields.

It was marked on one of the Ordnance Survey maps as a Heritage site, too.

It was just a big lump in the middle of a field. The fields were given over to grazing, so there wasn't any issue about planting crops on the thing.

It always gave me the creeps, that old lump, especially at night. Apparently they buried people straight up and down, not sideways, way back when...

[Adsos Letter]

3. Interesting! I wonder how old it was?

Living in the UK must have been an interesting experience.

I lived in Germany when I was 18-20, and it was a good introduction to a broader world.

[MADem]

6. No idea--I got the impression it was, er, "pre-Christian" though!

I'm ashamed to say I didn't express as much interest as I should have--I was pretty busy in those days and spare time was a rare commodity (nowadays, I've got plenty!).

I've lived in a load of intersting nations--from the Middle East to Asia to Europe--partly as a consequence of upbringing, but to a great extent as a consequence of work. I've also visited a ton, too. I think it's a good thing for everyone to do, even if just for the semester/Junior Year Abroad thing, or even a Peace Corps gig--it does introduce one to societies that don't revolve around American Idol and what Paris Hilton is up to...!! And that's gotta be a good thing!

[aquart]

4. I've never seen or heard of a standing skeleton in a grave.

Got a link to this straight up and down stuff?

[MADem]

5. Nope--all I know is what my neighbors told me, and what the Heritage guy said

the couple of times he came out to make sure that the grazing animals were't fucking up the location.