To whom does a lost object belong?

It depends on the object, and who finds it. Today, in England, Northern Ireland and Wales, the discovery of lost objects is governed by the 1996 Treasure Act. If an object is discovered that is (a) at least 300 years old and at least 10% precious metal; (b) a coin that is at least 300 years old (and, if the coin is less than 10% precious metal, discovered in a group of at least 10 coins); or (c) another type of object found with material that meets the requirements of (a) or (b), then it is classified as Treasure and must be declared. The Act applies only to objects that are lost in the sense that it excludes objects that belong to the original owner or their relatives. If a museum wants to acquire objects defined as Treasure, the Treasure Valuation Committee convenes to assign a value to the object, which is usually split between the finder and the landowner. 95% of objects classified as Treasure are found by amateur metal detectorists.

Other countries have different ways of protecting and valuing lost objects. To take just three proximate examples, in Scotland, detectorists are required to report the discovery of any object of ‘archaeological signifi-cance’, almost regardless of its origin; in Ireland, the use of metal detectors is heavily regulated and it is illegal to use a detection device without prior written approval from the government; in France, a detectorist requires written permission from both the landowner and the préfecture (regional police authority) before any search is undertaken. While the 1996 Treasure Act attempts to reward the individual finder and landowner, in Ireland, Scotland and France the regulation appears to be determined by a sense of collective ownership, a belief that lost historical objects can only properly belong to a people, not a person.

This essay is prompted by stories of objects lost and found. Lost objects leave gaps in a society's knowledge of the past that are often only, if ever, recognised and understood after careful study, or following an extraordinary discovery. Until the discovery of the Staffordshire Hoard in 2009, for instance, the many references to gold in Old English literature were not matched in the archaeological record.