“There Is None So Blind as Those Who Won‘t See”: Metal Detecting and Archaeology in France

Presented as an inoffensive hobby that is motivated by the interest for past and history, metal detecting represents an invisible danger for heritage. Since the passage of a 1989 law, it is prohibited in France without having an official authorization. However, there are loopholes in the legislation and the law is regularly flouted, even if the last years saw trials and condemnations. Detectorists claim they are not looters and want to participate in archaeological research, but there is a twilight zone between a „good detectorist“ and a nighthawk. Despite the restrictive legislation, it seems that metal-detecting still will be practiced and we will have to deal with it. Therefore, some French archaeologists agree to record the detectorists‘ finds to avoid the loss of data. In so doing, however, they unwittingly become a crucial link in a vicious circle of looting and selling the common past. They provide to the detectorists a justification to always dig deeper to seek artefacts, and they participate in the black market by giving an added value to detectorists’ finds. The protection of our heritage will be efficient only when these archaeologists stop breaking the rules by practicing an „object archaeology“ like the 19th century scholars