Detecting Medieval Sites (Story 3) - No "Easy Street" in Treasure Hunting
My call got through only on the fifth try (while I was thinking that to nextel someone - an easy way to talk to the person across the country while simply pressing a button, would be the far-fetched sci-fi in these areas). At least, Dima helped us figure out where we were - in the middle of nowhere!
Finally we noticed the plateau with freshly plowed fields across the gully. As soon as we had driven down to the creek on the bottom, Bob recognized the place. It turned out to be that Bob was here with Dima on previous outing but they searched further up the hill, not in the gully.
And now, according to Dima's directions, we had to drive up the hill and search the field on the plateau's opposite end. My intuition prompted me that that was not right, but knowing a little about the typical terrain positioning of the early medieval settlements I did not voice out my doubts to Bob.
I Wish We Knew Back Then That This Spot Was the Right One!
The best way to find a "hot spot" on the large field would be to try to eyeball any "ceramics" - pottery fragments, in the mud. Bob and I scouted around the field for a while, but to no avail.
After finding no shards, we could do nothing else but metal detect and hope we come across the spot with high concentration of iron signals - that would be a good sign of the settlement's location (that idea was absolutely wrong, I will explain it later.). Now it was time to metal detect!
Bob is Ready
Right away, the storm came upon us. I had to turn my back to the wind to shelter my face and my metal detector from piercing rain drops. Suddenly I felt very cold and returned to Bob's Jeep to put all my outdoor cloths on. Strange enough, it did not work out.
To keep warm, I began digging every hint of a signal. In 15 minutes, I had my pouch filled with rusty parts of the modern farming equipment - great start for my new treasure hunting season! (with sarcasm) Shortly it got even greater - I began feeling a sharp and unbearable pain in my stomach - I almost fainted right at the spot! It could not be real but I barely made it back to Jeep, put my detector and shovel under the vehicle and reclined on the seat hoping that the sickness would go away soon.
It did not. I felt so dizzy that just the thought of searching that enormous field would be fatal.
The rain increased, and Bob came back too, also empty-handed. I told him I was out of commission and if he wanted to check out another location, I would not mind.
We drove to a different part of the field, and Bob tried to get any good signal for an hour - no success. It totally was not a day for metal detecting, my first day of the new season - the worst day of all! We made a decision to get me home as soon as possible.
Painful Opening of New Season
