Paper short abstract:

Through object-focused interviews with hobbyist finder-collectors, we document the ways in which they interact with and understand the ancient objects in their stewardship. Some finder-collectors incorporate their finds into handicraft or adopt innovative ways in which to display their discoveries.

Paper long abstract:

Metal-detectorists and other hobbyists that search for material from the past can be defined as finder-collectors. Many of them curate objects which they have found and legally own. Some finder-collectors have private collections or even home museums consisting of thousands of objects, and in some cases they have adopted innovative strategies for both displaying and even reusing artistically their discoveries.

Through object-focused interviews with finder-collectors in Finland, Norway and Belgium, we document the ways these individuals interact with and understand the objects in their stewardship. Many finder-collectors touch and caress their objects while talking about them. In addition, some finder-collectors incorporate their finds into contemporary handicraft activities or adopt innovative ways in which to display their discoveries for friends and family, as well as often expressing concerns about the trajectory of their objects after their lifetime.

Contemporary handicraft activities involving found objects, as well as the ways in which finder-collectors choose to display their collections - often mimics museums or at least mimics their perception of what a museum is. Furthermore interviewees often discussed the past ‘lives’ that they imagine their objects to have experienced. In this way they create new narratives for their objects incorporating a constructed past.

We reflect in this paper on our experiences and findings in the field, noting also that the ethnographic process is an embodied one, also for us as the researchers.