ARTIFACT DETECTING TEAM
"Where History Is Found"
October, 2010
Here is where we will list the most commonly asked questions / answers plus other general information.
Q. Can I keep all of my finds?
A. Yes - you keep EVERYTHING except for American Indian artifacts which must be turned into the site manager and will remain the property of the Southampton Historical Museum.
Q. I need a hotel room for the event - do you have any deals?
A. Yes - we have made arrangements with The Enclave Inn, www.enclaveinn.com, which has 3 locations (Southampton, Bridgehampton and Wainscott) all within 10-15 minutes of our hunt sites. Please call 631-537-2900 and ask for Marta and mention the Museum detecting program to try to get one of their limited rooms for $75/nt for one queen bed or $99/nt for a bed plus pullout unit for a share (plus tax). $99/nt is a great deal for the area.
Q. What equipment should I bring with me?
A. You should bring the following equipment to ensure the greatest success in the field:
- Detector plus backup detector (if you have one).
- Coil - minimum 10" size or larger. Depth and separation are not issues. If you can handle
the extra weight a larger coil (12x15) will allow you to cover more ground.
- Rechargeable battery/charger, backup battery, disposable batteries.
- Probe - handheld or attached Sunray.
- Headphones and spare (if you have one).
- Finds pouch for finds and junk.
- Hand held digging tool - like a Lesche knife.
- Swingy thingy type harness.
- For farm fields use a large spade or shovel
- For turf and/or woods use a hand digging knife or a relic digger to make clean plugs
Q. What clothing should I bring with me?
A. Always expect and plan for inclement weather. Bring the following:
- Jeans (one pair for each day as they may get wet)
- Sturdy, weatherproof comfortable hiking/work boots - it may get muddy and sneakers
won't cut it.
- Dress in layers - have a sweater and/or sweatshirt on top of t-shirt so you can peel items
off if it gets warm. Depending on the temps I use a one piece zipup coverall.
- Rain gear - both top and bottom (unless it's a thunderstorm we'll be detecting).
- Gloves
- Cap
Q. What about food and drinks during the hunt day?
A. Please bring your own food and drinks. Plan an having snacks or fruit on hand for a quick pick me up.
Q. What are the rules during the hunt?
A. Expect to abide by the generic "detecting code of ethics" including removing all recovered trash from the site and filling in all your holes. No alcohol or drugs. No rowdy or rough behavior. Be respectful of your fellow detectorists. There is sufficient acerage for the number of hunters allowed, on site, that you will not be stepping on each others signals. Everyone MUST have fun and thoroughly enjoy themselves.
Q. What is the hunting environment like? What can I do to improve my chances for success?
A. Most likely this fall we will be hunting plowed farm fields. If you have never hunted plowed field sites remember these pointers for maximum success:
- Depth is usually not an issue in a plowed field. We have found some of our best items
sitting right on top of the dirt!! So dig all good signals no matter how deep they are.
- Discrimination - less is more. Use the least amount of discrimination you can deal with.
You are only looking to eliminate iron. Everything else has potential. The conductivity
range of the good items that can be found are all over the map. Dig ALL repeatable good
signals. You will quickly learn the site's junk - like foil. Typically, you will not have to
contend with discarded bottle caps, pulltabs or the like. The random aluminum can is the
most frustrating junk I usually find - because it just sounds so good.
- Time is money. You are on a limited timeframe so you want to maximize your detecting
and minimize other activities. That means you should decide to dig or not dig quickly,
remove the target quickly, fill the whole quickly and not stop to admire your find.
Q. What will the size of the properties be and when will we know where we will be detecting?
A. The size of the properties will vary from site to site, from 2 acres to 50 acres, so we will restict access on each site to only the number of people we believe will offer everyone the best detecting experience. We will attempt to accomodate groups onto the same site when applicable. You will be given a precise meeting place in advance of that weekend's event and we will all meet up there by 8:30am sharp the morning of the event. Everyone will then follow to the exact detecting site. Detecting will be from 9am-5pm or earlier light conditions permitting. Trust me - you'll be exhausted by 5pm.
Q. What has been found on the properties so far?
A. We personally detect every parcel that we receive access to in order to determine that there is sufficient potential for making good finds. That initial scan of the property is usually about an hour and so far has ALWAYS yielded at least one large copper. A large copper signifies to us that the property saw activity from the 1750's onward. It continues to amaze us the date range of items we find out there - from 1700's coppers and artifacts to 1940's wheat pennies - you really never know what you'll find and I'm always very excited with each good signal. As soon as we determine the property has promise we move on to the next parcel. You should expect to find coppers, colonial buttons, military buttons, musket balls, square nails, buckles, interesting artifacts and old silver coins including cobs from the 1600's. On the rare occasion you may find old gold jewelry or quite possibly a gold coin. Anything goes. That's why it's so important to DIG EVERYTHING that's not iron. Every good signal - you just never know. On a working farm site the soil is constantly getting churned from season to season and usually being deep plowed to 22" so yesterday's 15" deep out of reach coin may well be only 3" deep today. It also means that every year the properties become new and fresh again. We are putting together a Finds page which will highlight our personal finds to date from the area and where we will be posting your finds too. As always, understand these are natural hunts and there are no guarantees.
