Metal-detecting for archaeological items has developed into a popular hobby with thousands of practitioners across the Nordic countries. Metal-detecting is about more than artifacts and discoveries. It is also about people - avocational metal detector users and professional archaeologists. Why do metal detector users do what they do? What's at stake for the professionals? How do both professionals and avocationals perceive themselves and their role? These and other questions will be in focus at this workshop conference, which aims to inform future approaches and best practice models for how to deal with the metal detector phenomenon in Scandinavia and beyond. 

This conference is the final in a series of three workshops titled ‘From Treasure Hunters to Citizen Scientists’, funded by NOS-HS and organised in association with the European Public Finds Recording Network. The series had the explicit aim of bringing together citizen scientists, heritage professionals and researchers in the field of public archaeology, in order to discuss archaeological metal detecting in the Nordic Countries. Previous workshops considered the phenomenon from the perspective of heritage management organizations (University of Helsinki, June 2022) and research (Bergen University Museum, October 2022). 

Funded by: NOS-HS: Promoting Nordic research within the Humanities and Social Sciences and AUGUSTINUS FONDEN

Organized by: Andres Dobat  (Aarhus University) & Pieterjan Deckers (Vrije Universiteit Brussel) in association with the European Public Finds Recording Network