Cemeteries and ethics....

I try to leave the grave digging to the archies who are way more qualified to disturb the dead than I am. :crazy:

In the bush it can sometimes be uncertain whether you are dealing with a grave or small/family cemetery. I may be tempted to pass the device over the ground to see if I pick up anything, but if there is the least possibility of such, then I'll give digging a pass. I would expect to get hits unless they are pauper/slave graves.
 
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In New Jersey, condominium associations have ripped up two and three hundred year-old headstones, tossed them in a truck, and dumped them in a landfill. In Philadelphia, a University ripped up the headstones of an ancient cemetery and dumped them on the mud flats under a bridge. They then paved over the graves with asphalt to make a cemetery.

Countless cemeteries have been defiled when remains have been removed (relocated) because the real estate of the burial ground has become too valuable to "waste" on dead people.

Despite our society's callous attitudes towards old burial grounds, I personally think cemeteries are off limits for detecting. Outside the established historical limits of the cemetery shouldn't be an issue. However, the true boundaries are often forgotten. Many old graves were never marked or have lost their markers.

And when does my grandparent's grave become an archaeological site? When is it ok for a team of archaeologists to dig up grandpa's bones or his lucky silver dollar and put them in a museum? I suppose the Indians have been asking themselves the same question for years.


JD
 
One of my favorite places on a recent trip. You might have to do a lot of explaining if you try digging here!
90854eadd7f1ec22f11b12fbe7880c29.jpg



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One of my favorite places on a recent trip. You might have to do a lot of explaining if you try digging here!
90854eadd7f1ec22f11b12fbe7880c29.jpg



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I wonder if Paul was interred with any of his silver? In any event, probably not a good idea to enter the premises with a metal detector...lol

Great picture. Thanks for posting it.

JD
 
A friend once asked me "why does anyone care, it's not like you are digging six feet down." I explained to him "look my first wife is in one of those plots, I would be infuriated if I saw someone digging over her grave." It is all a matter of respect. A sport field I detect abuts against a cemetary. I will stay at least 10 feet away from the fence. The last thing a mourner wants or needs to see is someone digging right beside their loved one.
 
The ethics of the detectorist digging in a cemetery is a big issue, but not the main issue (tho certainly a debate can be had on that issue); the real issue is how we are perceived.

We don't want to be perceived that way, so don't do it.

One does it, we are all lumped that way, just like we are all lumped in with the jackwagon who does not fill their holes.

I remember asking permission at a state park (which is the protocol in PA), and the ranger's station overlooked a 1700's cemetery. He was dismayed and said everyone hunts the cemetery. He wasn't gonna give me permission, but I said, truthfully, that I discovered the location of an 1800's train station in the park and I want to hunt that. It was a large park and far from the cemetery. He was ok, since he could see the cemetery, but the point remains about perception.

Just don't do it. If you can't find good sites to hunt besides cemeteries, you are in the wrong hobby.

^^^^ Yep! As "lucrative" as it may seem at first, just some simple ol' ponderin' should answer this question for anyone. Native Americans (my grandmother was Cherokee) would kill over grave desecration, and this included the simple act of trespassing by outsiders. No matter what your personal beliefs, the act of digging in a cemetery for a handful of coin is just plain wrong, And yea, it leaves the perception that we are akin to grave robbers if given a chance. On a personal note, I could care less who digs, dances, or spits on my grave, but I don't speak for others who are in their final resting place.Just my cyber 2 cents. GL and HH.
 
I try to leave the grave digging to the archies who are way more qualified to disturb the dead than I am. :crazy:

In the bush it can sometimes be uncertain whether you are dealing with a grave or small/family cemetery. I may be tempted to pass the device over the ground to see if I pick up anything, but if there is the least possibility of such, then I'll give digging a pass. I would expect to get hits unless they are pauper/slave graves.

Gotta give my 2 cents on this topic in one regard...most all cemeteries of any age, and certainly any on a hillside, are inherently dangerous, yet unmaintained beyond basic mowing..why should they give a hoot if you are digging a little hole where they often dig big ones...how exactly, I mean precisely,...how is it tangibly harmful to any dead or living person to metal detect in a cemetery? I want to hear from both the living and the dead on this please....no tipping hazard signs are in place for a field full of stacked granite blocks...blocks waiting for gravity to play its eventual winning hand...no pins or anchors..just stacked.. permanent monuments are never permanent..just temporarily balanced defying gravity.....so..the plot is owned by the family, it’s their duty to keep it safe. So technically the church or caretaker can’t say squat if you tell them you asked permission from the plot owners....or challenge them on their authority to remove you from land not under their responsibility or ownership...cuz if you try to sue a cemetery for a stone that tips over and kills your child you may be in for a big surprise...they will tell you it’s not their responsibility.... so ...hmmmm...tell them they have not the authority to legally remove you from land they refuse to assume liability for... and personally...I don’t give a hoot what other people think about the ethics of metal detecting...question politicians..not metal detecting...question reality, or your perception of what respect for those that passed means...and what the nature and value of a cemetery is or is not...a cemetery is a superstitious human custom...born from the simple desire to spare the living from watching our companions remains devoured or decomposing....and perhaps remember them...the grave stone....
 
A friend once asked me "why does anyone care, it's not like you are digging six feet down." I explained to him "look my first wife is in one of those plots, I would be infuriated if I saw someone digging over her grave." It is all a matter of respect. A sport field I detect abuts against a cemetary. I will stay at least 10 feet away from the fence. The last thing a mourner wants or needs to see is someone digging right beside their loved one.

Someone in living memory? I'd need a really good reason to step over the grave with a whispered apology, forget going digging.

Not even about the deceased - my father would have been all for it if there was some historical or archaeological value that would come from digging over his grave. But I imagine I'd have a problem with someone digging if I didn't know they were doing it for that value.

It's a lot more about what is perceived by the living than what would have been thought about it by the deceased. But I think that consideration for all of them is what might give the hobby a better light in public view.
 
Someone in living memory? I'd need a really good reason to step over the grave with a whispered apology, forget going digging.

Not even about the deceased - my father would have been all for it if there was some historical or archaeological value that would come from digging over his grave. But I imagine I'd have a problem with someone digging if I didn't know they were doing it for that value.

It's a lot more about what is perceived by the living than what would have been thought about it by the deceased. But I think that consideration for all of them is what might give the hobby a better light in public view.

Agreed. Have some respect and common sense and stay out. Plenty of other places to detect.
 
See the real place to detect is the fields NEXT to the cemetery, where everyone came and camped and gathered for the funerals.
 
As a teenager (over 30 years ago now) I stupidly did some detecting around some cemeteries, but not on any graves. I focused on the paths and roads going into and through the cemetery where I knew funeral processions would have passed. No need to bust my chops now! I have since swung quite the other way ethically (no pun intended)! I basically stay away from them. However, there is one place NEAR a cemetery I'd like to try. I uploaded this video to You Tube nearly 10 years ago. This is a tiny cemetery in Butler County, P.A.. for a Swedish family that lived in the area. I was thinking about trying the woods in the outlying area, well outside the perimeter. I cant believe it was 10 years ago that I uploaded this. It just so happens to have a little soundtrack that I composed that same day on a synthesizer I owned at the time. Music is one of my other hobbies. Unless the area has already been detected I think there might be some interesting stuff out in those woods. The stones in the cemetery are dated in the 1820s I think. Might be apparent in the videos.

So anyway, I dont encourage anyone to hunt inside a cemetery perimeter, but if you can find an cemetery like this you might want to consider hitting up nearby paths and roads where funeral processions have taken place in the distant past. If you're dealing with a very old spot, most likely you wont be finding valuables belonging to living people.

And I do apologize for the lousy EQ in the soundtrack. It sucks!

[https://youtu.be/egVM4zqxHvo]
 
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I was wondering the same thing.
Around where I live, we have many small old graveyards. I would love to detect them, but I just don't think it's respectful. Maybe on the edges, but not near the stones.
 
Besides the obvious morality concerns I just don't see how a cemetery (inside) would be that lucrative. Save for at time of burial, wouldn't be any significant amount of people there to drop anything. But I agree the roads and paths to and from could hold a few items.
 
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