Sharon Targets Coinshooters on GreenBy ELF LEFFERTS
The Litchfield County Times
January 25, 2001
SHARON - Could the history of a town be determined by what lies six inches deep in the soil? That is the theory behind a request for a town ordinance that would limit the use of metal detectors on the green.
The issue first arose last fall, when residents William Trowbridge and Peter Pettus wrote to First Selectman Robert Moeller that they had become "aware of a couple of guys with metal detectors wandering around the Sharon Green and digging into the ground."
Upset by the possible loss of historical artifacts, they asked in the letter: "What gives? It would appear that they are treasure hunters looking for artifacts (or maybe something valuable dropped yesterday) that might lie buried under our green. If artifacts exist, they should belong to the Town and be kept for the town at the town's Historical society and not taken away by these outside treasure hunters."
The reaction of the Board of Selectmen was to ask Mr. Trowbridge, an archeologist and member of the board of trustees of the Sharon Historical Society, to explain his concerns at a Jan. 9 meeting. It was decided at the meeting that town attorney Judith Dixon, of Dixon & Brooks in Winsted, would draft an ordinance making the use of metal detectors subject to a permit. Though the details are to be worked out in the draft, Mr. Moeller said permits would be limited to those connected to recognized detector clubs or an archeological entity. For the ordinance to be signed into law it must be approved in a town meeting.
Publicity about the proposed ordinance has sparked a flurry of angry letters from "coinshooters" across Connecticut. "We are good citizens, not thieves and ravagers," wrote David Gregorski of Coventry, who is the editor of Yankee Territory Coinshooters, a newsletter for detectors. "We often take great pains to return valuable rings to their owners, and we follow a detecting code of ethics."
Another detector, Conrad Rasinski of Brookfield, bitterly wrote: "There is someone lurking in the shadows that wishes to deny us that fun and pleasure of finding a metallic presence in the ground. That someone wants to blame us for ruining historical and archaeological sites by merely inserting a screwdriver or small probe into the ground. They claim that we are taking historical artifacts that don't belong to us, but to someone else. Who, may I ask! Is that someone from 200 or so years ago walking around and?ow going to claim them?" he continued.
Both Mr. Moeller and Mr. Trowbridge were taken aback by the statewide reaction to the proposed ordinance.
The First Selectman said part of his surprise was the general perception that on publicly owned land "anyone can do anything they like."
Mr. Trowbridge said he didn't realize detectors kept in such close contact. "I thought they were a sort of renegade type of people," he said. "It turns out they get very offended it they can't go treasure hunting where they want to." In general, said Mr. Trowbridge, he believes detectors show "a lack of understanding in the interpretation of what they find as well as its archeological value." He explained that as time passes, artifacts get trapped in layers. Items found in the layers can help to identify periods and provide other important data.
The archeologist said that in the three digs he has conducted in Sharon, metal artifacts played a major role in dating the sites. For instance, at an early Hotchkiss forge in Sharon Valley, Mr. Trowbridge found a currycomb with the date 1840 impressed on its side. In a dig next to the Historical Society's headquarters on Main Street, where there used to be a row of shops, he found a fork that could be dated to the 1750's. "If someone with a metal detector had yanked up that fork we wouldn't have been able to date that building," he said. There was also a home on Sharon Mountain where nails were found that had been driven through wood, then had their tips bent. It was a popular way of building a door, Mr. Trowbridge said. The distinctive mark allowed the archeologist to determine some of the shape of the house.
According to Mr. Gregorski, Mr. Trowbridge is needlessly concerned. In his letter, he writes that the average sensitivity of a metal detector is 5 or 6 inches, so they don't "end up with an archeological dig."
"Regarding historical relics, we have become quite good at cleaning/preserving such items, and have offered to donate them to museums in several towns," he maintained. "Things hidden in the ground are of no use to anyone."
State law already prohibits the disturbance of state-owned property, but the Sharon town green, since it is owned by the municipality, is not subject to the restriction.
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Thanks, Stephen