‘Black Archaeology’ in Eastern Europe: Metal Detecting, Illicit Trafficking of Cultural Objects, and ‘Legal Nihilism’ in Belarus, Poland, Russia, and Ukraine

Metal-Detecting for Cultural Objects until ‘There Is Nothing Left’: The Potential and Limits of Digital Data, Netnographic Data and Market Data for Open-Source Analysis

“…Two seemingly exceptionally large national forums have around 18,436 members and 21,821 members (Fouilleur 2017a), while the largest social network only has about 4953 fans (Fouilleur 2017b. It is also the social network of the largest online forum, which reaffirms that detecting communities' visibility in social media may be far less than in reality, as has been documented in Eastern Europe and South-East Asia (Hardy 2016b(Hardy , 2018b.…”

“…They are even more extensive in data collection, as they include publications of data for any and all such indicators in secondary sources. Such research prioritises consistency in the method of identification of sources (e.g., Hardy 2016bHardy , 2017aHardy , 2017bHardy , 2018aHardy , 2018bHardy , 2018c.…”

“…This material was part of a trawl for evidence around the world. Initial results have already been analysed for Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the United Kingdom (for the jurisdictions of England and Wales, Northern Ireland, and Scotland) and the United States (Hardy 2017a); Belarus, Poland, Russia and Ukraine (Hardy 2016b(Hardy , 2017b; South Asia (Hardy 2018a); South-East Asia (Hardy 2018b); and East Asia (Hardy 2018c).…”

“…There appear to be trends towards cooperative/competitive "cultures" of detecting in North America, Western Europe (Hardy 2017a) and Eastern Europe (Hardy 2016b), wherein significant numbers of detectorists participate in online community activity. Meanwhile, there appear to be trends towards individualistic/secretive "cultures" of detecting in South Asia (Hardy 2018a), South-East Asia (Hardy 2018b) and East Asia (Hardy 2018c), wherein significant numbers of detectorists abstain from online community activity.…”

“…So, it cannot be assumed, as in Karl and Möller (2018), that countries that have similar gross domestic product (GDP), internet access and 'other such general indicators' can necessarily be compared to measure the effectiveness of regulation. For instance, evidence indicates higher rates of metal-detecting in Eastern Europe than Western Europe (Hardy 2016b), which correlate with significant differences in legal regulations, economic conditions, internet access and political conditions between Eastern Europe and Western Europe. Yet rates of metal-detecting in Eastern Europe do not correlate directly with differences in legal regulations, economic conditions, internet access or political conditions within Eastern Europe.…”