Heritage Management
The Portable Antiquities Scheme
Every year objects of archaeological importance are discovered by members of the public. Many of these finds are unearthed by people using metal detectors, but chance finds are also made by people whilst working, digging their gardens or out walking. In the past little of this material was recorded by museums or archaeologists, and a great deal of potential information about our past was lost.
The Portable Antiquities Scheme was established to record these chance finds and make people more aware of the importance of such objects for understanding our past.
If you have discovered any finds you think may be of archaeological interest, then please contact your local reporting centre, whether the finds were made here or elsewhere in Britain. Staff at the centre will be pleased to identify your finds and tell you what they were used for in the past. They will also be able to offer you advice on how to look after them.
It is also important to be able to record where your finds were discovered. In this way, archaeologists can build up a picture of where people lived and how goods were traded, and can lead to the discovery of important new sites. Details of your finds will be made accessible to the public via newsletters, reports, local museums and the internet, although your personal details and the precise location of your finds will not be revealed
For further details about the Scheme for Recording Archaeological Finds in Wales please contact:
Mark Lodwick Department of Archaeology & Numismatics, National Museums & Galleries of Wales, Cathays Park Cardiff. CFIO 3NP Tel: 02920 573226 Mark Lodwick
Or visit the Scheme's website: www.finds.org.uk