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Perspectives on and from the Danish Metal Detecting Community

Kristen Nedergaard Dreiøe, Arne Hertz, Glenn Abramsson and Rikke Søgaard

Cite this as: Nedergaard Dreiøe, K., Hertz, A., Abramsson, G. and Søgaard, R. 2025 Perspectives on and from the Danish metal-detecting community, Internet Archaeology 68. https://doi.org/10.11141/ia.68.7

Summary

The Danish approach to metal detecting has been highly successful and has a positive reputation internationally especially among people who are in favour of greater cooperation between archaeologists and metal detectorists. However structural and cultural changes are now challenging the foundation of the metal detecting community in Denmark. This discussion article sheds light on the particular dynamics and framework conditions that are shaping and pushing the Danish metal detecting community, for better or worse, onto new paths which may also be of relevance elsewhere. This is a layperson's account, substantiated by personal experiences and reflections, and shared by a group of detectorists with significant formal as well as informal positions within the Danish detectorist community.

This discussion paper is in part based on a presentation (Dreiøe) and a discussion panel (Hertz, Søgaard and Abrammson) in the seminar “Social and Cultural Aspects of Metal Detecting”, held at Moesgaard Museum, Denmark, on 27th-28th of April 2023.

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  • Keywords: metal detecting, Denmark, Danefæ, omhu, detectorist clubs, museum, collaboration
  • Accepted: October 2024. Published: June 2025
  • Funding: This article was funded by the Joint Committee for Nordic research councils in the Humanities and Social Sciences (NOS-HS) grant no 335213 for the project From Treasure Hunters to Citizen Scientists: metal detecting and archaeological heritage in the Nordic region.
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Corresponding author: via Anna Wessman
Anna.Wessman@uib.no

Full text

Figure 1: Schematic model of the main actors and their respective relationships within Danish metal detecting, as understood by Kristen Dreiøe.

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