Rescuing our neglected heritage: The evolution of the Government's policy on portable antiquities in England and Wales

Abstract

This paper looks at the evolution of a new approach to an old problem—that of protecting the heritage of moveable archaeological objects—‘portable antiquities’—in England and Wales. It sets out a brief history of attempts to bring forward legislation to protect such finds, charts the rise of metal detecting as an activity and describes the successful process of changing government policy through the Treasure Act 1996. This led to the Portable Antiquities Scheme which has now received full government funding. The paper looks at how this was achieved through the development of what has been described as the largest community archaeology project in the country, which is starting to change public attitudes towards objects from the past. These two initiatives have in fact started to lead to a change in public attitude towards material from the past.