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Hunting at Old Cemeteries

B

banditicey

New member
Was just taken to a site where there is an old cemetery from the 1700's
Almost forgotten and way out of the way
The question to you all is:

Would You Detect At an Old Cemetery?
And Why or Why Not?
 
Hi
simple answer from me...no - out of respect
nearby church grounds or cemetary parking areas are OK

I hunted next to a pioneers cemetary yesterday but I would not enter the cemetary itself

T59
 
No, it is disrespectful. As far as the actual age of the cemetery, age doesn't matter when it comes to respecting the departed. You never know if a loved one had left something behind at the grave site, (i.e., something for a deceased child). It also makes this hobby look bad when people see a metal detector at cemetery. It's not what we are about. We are about preserving history, not trampling on sacred grounds.
 
I too would stay away from any grave stones or obvious burial area. I actually think you could be committing a felony (grave robbing) if you were to close- let me clarify- I THINK, NOT KNOW, that to be the case. Out here in the west you have to be careful of the Antiquities Act on federal land, but NY may have different rules. Just MHO
 
waiting areas, parking areas ok but actually in the cemetery BAD JU-JU!!!! :devil:
 
Back in 1976, I and my friend were invited in to a family cemetery by the matriarch of the family. She was just curious to see if our machines could tell which grave was the most recent burial. We scanned over all 9 graves and found 2 that were most recent (within the past 20 years). Yes, our machines did sound off on the metal caskets. Just by looking at the grounds we could not tell (overgrown). Also several years ago I was contacted by the Flat Rock, Michigan historical society to try and locate the historical marker for a cemetery that contained many civil war dead. Searched this place for 3 days with no success. There is a high school out back and they figured that the kids stole the bronze plaque. I did get a loud sound down deep, carefully dug down about 2 feet, and guess what I found........A 6 pack of Miller beer! Apparently the cops must have scared some kids years before and they buried the brew on the backside of the hill, the cans were full, some partially as they were rusting, they had the bain of all detectorists still attached to the tops........NGE
 
I don't but I have seen first hand the respect a zero-turn mower and weed eater operators have for sacred sites. A decision only you can make that will answer your question. People don't give it a second thought to fire up a detector on a civil war battlefield where a lot of OUR ancestors lost their lives and were buried on the spot. So like I said do what you think is right. HH :minelab:
 
ALL those potential targets but no sorry couldnt do it it just wouldnt be right now if you said it was a bronze age burial then for some reason i dont think i would feel so odd about it
 
No, I would never do any metal detecting in a cemetery for the reasons mentioned
above and I wouldn't sleep well if I did. Too creepy.
 
Well. I do detect at our local cemetery....but for good reasons. I'm on the board and we have to locate the survey stakes to take measurements off of for locating burial plots. If I were detecting in the woods and I found a gravestone, I'd likely be inclined to move on.

By the way. I NEVER detect at our cemetery without another board member being there.

NebTrac
 
Haven't you asked this question before?

All this is going to do is get ugly.
 
Thanks All
I believe there is a healthy dialogue happening here
And I also believe everyone is entitled to an opinion and respect
Best Wishes
 
Found these under a large domed shaped stone. Wonder what they were doing there? Seemed to be some termites and wood shardes in the hole with them. I wonder if??? Just kidding. I have hunted several Quaker Meeting houses from the 17th and 18th centuries that had cemetaries onsite. Would never go near the actuall burial sitee though... that would surely give bad karma. The question is... if you were to dig a grave by mistake and recover some gold teeth, would you put them back in the hole? HH Mike
 
Bandit, sorry if I seemed accusing, I wasn't trying to. Your name just looked familiar and kinda jumped out at me.

If you havent read past posts about the topic, it almost always gets very ugly. Most people don't hunt them, and don't like the idea. Seems disrespectful to them. Other people look at it from the perspective that cemetaries are private property, and if you have permission then there is nothing wrong with it. Most of the ones that do hunt them, generally only hunt the old ones that don't have relatives that might come by.

THEN, some of the anti-crowd get offended and begin threatening and insulting the ones who do hunt them. Then the thread spins out of control until it gets shut down by the mods.

We can always hope for better though.
 
here is the thing I find almost hilarious....I know a LOT of people on the forums and on the forum they ALWAYS post they will NEVER detect a cemetary, but to my face MANY of those same people told me they will and and HAVE detected cemetaries. They said it is looked down upon by some people so when posting they say they don't, but in reality they DO. Look at Charles Garretts book about treasure hunting and good places to hunt. One of the places he listed was cemetaries. Now I am not saying it is right or wrong, I really don't have much an opinion on the subject. But I am NOT going to condemn anyone who decides to do it,

You ask why? in my town we have a HUGE and I mean HUGE cemetary, and you would be floored if you know how many elderly people SUGGEST to me that that would be a great place to detect when I am hunting their yards. I always ask homeowners if they know of any good OLD spots and that is one place many, many people have told me to go to. I have not detected there, but I am always amazed how many elderly people in my town who think that is a GOOD place to go. Not a single person things it is wrong when I ask them. They say why would it hurt, graves are 6 feet deep.

Now I am not saying it is right, and I am not condemning it either. I am merely saying I will not condemn anyone....because I know people on this very forum who have done it, yet swear they wouldn't do it in print. It is not my job to tell people what to do.........
 
i hunt cemetaries and they produce well. last hunt i dug an 1847 large cent and a 1787 new jersey copper. im not intending to be disrespectful to the dead....or the living , and i havent gotten any "Bad JU-JU" to speak of.
 
Hey Jason
Thanks and you were right
when i first started on the forum i did post same question after an experienced detectorist i knew suggested to hunt cemeteries
At that time I had a knee jerk response and needed confirmation that it was not proper
But i forgot all about it, yes getting older, and alot of detecting since then
Having been confronted with this old out of the way site was unexpected and also exciting
My hope was to have dialogue and there has been some good comments and thoughtful considerations
I am grateful for the forum members who care and share
No Drama Necessary
Best Regards To All


Jason in Enid said:
Bandit, sorry if I seemed accusing, I wasn't trying to. Your name just looked familiar and kinda jumped out at me.

If you haven't read past posts about the topic, it almost always gets very ugly. Most people don't hunt them, and don't like the idea. Seems disrespectful to them. Other people look at it from the perspective that cemeteries are private property, and if you have permission then there is nothing wrong with it. Most of the ones that do hunt them, generally only hunt the old ones that don't have relatives that might come by.

THEN, some of the anti-crowd get offended and begin threatening and insulting the ones who do hunt them. Then the thread spins out of control until it gets shut down by the mods.

We can always hope for better though.
Click to expand...
 
Just last month we called a Priest for permission to hunt around an old church and the adjacent ball field, he granted us permission. We explained in detail how we recovery our targets and then he suggested the cemetery next to the church. The Priest suggested the cemetery!
 
I do not hunt cemeteries but I do use them as a reference point on old maps. Also head stones are a good indication of how old a area is.
 
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