Detecting Medieval Sites (Story 3) - Trying To Locate a Site
After digging up a few WW2 gun shells, I decided to metal detect along the riverbank in hope to find that elusive sand bar littered with Medieval pottery. Of course, there was none, and all I recovered was a Soviet 1931 20 Kopeks coin.
Coin's Obverse
I was thinking that maybe the square area surrounded by the irrigation/drainage canals was considered an island? I told Dima about it, and he moved onto that lot. Next time I looked at him from a distance, I noticed that he was talking to some guy who bicycled all the way here from the village nearby. Dima waved his hand to me inviting to come over. When I approached, the guy named Maxim extended his hand and said, "Hello, Colleague!"
Maxim and Dima
Maxim turned out to be a local treasure hunter who had just began metal detecting in his spare time. Right away, he told us that we were at the wrong spot and that the "good" area would be a couple of miles away, on another side of the river, as he was pointing out towards some highlands on the horizon. But he was not sure 100%.
When we returned to Bob's Jeep, Bob and his son were already inside and ready to go somewhere else. The prospects of driving a huge circle around to get to the distant highlands did not excite Bob. To kill a few hours, we finally decided to stop by one elevated spot on the way back and metal detect there.
Maxim followed us to the spot and was actually excited to be in a company of international treasure hunters. At least, somebody could finally explain to him how to use his Garrett GTA 550. I gladly helped, and Bob let Maxim use one of his Lesche shovels.
Bob was lucky to find one insignificant coin, circa 19th century, and an interesting ceramic fragment, the only one in the whole area! The presence of incised lines on this piece could suggest that this was a fragment of a roof tile, circa 13th century.
A Fragment of Medieval Roof Tile
The rest of us spent two hours digging up the usual modern junk.
I was kicking myself in the butt for not researching the information or not preparing a plan "B" - detecting at a different area with some potential in the close proximity, in case plan "A" would be a fiasco. The thought of that mysterious island did not leave my mind. Another idea I had was that maybe one of the forest patches in the area - they looked like the islands on the landscape! - was our target? Maybe. But Bob had to be back in Kiev soon so we bailed out.
The only good thing about this whole trip was that Bob spent some quality time with his son who came from the states to stay with dad until September.
