Uhhh, ok. When you get hold of someone, When phrasing the question, be sure to mention : Dig, and holes, and remove/take, and artifact, and Indian bone. After all, you don't want to mince words. You want them to understand the full implications of your question. And : Ya can't be too safe, eh ?
But .... seriously now ....: What happened to our prior conversation in this thread ? After considering all of that, you're still going to go risk that whimsical Russian Roulette? To someone who .... perhaps never had it cross their mind ?
Thus far you've satisfied yourself that the ONLY thing that could remotely apply to you, is the dreaded "artifact" word. Ok, then how about this : If you're dead-set on talking to a live person, then : Instead of asking "Mother may I metal detect?", Instead, simply ONLY ask: "How is artifact defined ?". I'll bet you dollars to donuts (if they consult their legal sources) they will tell you that it's : Items over 50 yrs. old.
Then ... presto, you've fulfilled your desire to talk to a live person. You've covered your bases in studying the laws/rules. You've even gone-so-far as to make sure your activities don't fall afoul of any of the said-rules. And you're not finding items over 50 yrs. old. Then : What's not to love about that ? Then you don't play "Russian Roulette" with someone's arbitrary whimsical "no". And you have-their-name-to-cite, if any busybodies approach. Eg.: "Fred from the office said Ok, as long as it's for modern objects" Eh ?
Because remember, you don't need "permission" for this. No more so than you need "permission" to fly kites, or skip stones on the pond, for example (might poke someone's eye out). Instead, a person would (if they were skittish) look up to see if there's any rules forbidding throwing stones or flying kites.
)
