Cemetaries...

[riki727]

I thought they were off limits? but I was talking to a guy locally who says he metal detects in them all the time. Thoughts? Comments?

[Kentfb]

I'd detect around the church, but I would not go in the cemetary. That's just me though.

[LaRoper]

I've done it a couple times, but was asked too by the owners to try and locate lost graves. Other than that, no. It just wouldn't feel right to me. I do detect the parking lots and areas around the cemetery.
LR

[The TINMAN]

Thats really cool Boobie. I was surfing on another site and that quetion was brouhgt up by a newbie and Wow did he come under fire. My Personal thought if if you have Permission and STAY AWAY from the GRAVES & NOT In the Immediate Vicinity Where & When Someone is Paying Their Respects, Go for It. I Know this is a VERY Touchy Subject for alot of Folks. To be Honest , MY first reaction was NO, OUT OF BOUNDS, We Have enough other places to dig & how would the General Public see us & our Hobby. Look Their Freakin Grave Robbers ! I guess it all comes down to the Individual, HOW & WHEN & WHERE of course Do You have PERMISSION. So as for Myself, if I Get the chance, Would I ? I'll have to wait for that moment & see cuz as it stands, I'm still straddlin the fence on this one.

The TINMAN

[bigbillinsc]

i personaly have no problems detectin in cemetaries. with permission and of course NEVER DURING A SERVICE.


My wife would never, ever, ever, ever let me bring something i found in the cemetarie home. she says it would bring lots of bad MOJO on us. my figuring on this is... how much worse can our luck get?

but seriously riki if you have no issues wether it is fear of graveyards or of the dead, there is nothing moraly wrong with it. use the same code of ethics as you would in a familys yard. permission kindness and backfill the holes. I THINK YOU WILL DO OK

GOOD LUCK AND HAPPY HUNTIN

[cchughs]

Guess I view this a little different. A personally think any grave site should be off limits. Ask your self this. Would you want someone stomping around on your mothers grave? Would you want someone digging on top of your mothers grave?
I also hope this doesn't offend anyone. I just feel there are plenty of other places to detect. Grave sites should be left alone.

[riki727]

To tell the truth, I'm not certain which way to go. I can understand, and respect, both sides of this delicate issue. I think I'll have to sit with Tinman on this one...and just wait and see if/when the moment arrives. But personally, I think I'd feel more comfortable in an older section of any cemetary. There's just something about the passage of time which makes it feel less intrusive.

Thanks for showing me both sides of the issue...I appreciate the honesty, and no offense taken with anyone...(and thanks for not blasting me!)

[DirtDigger]

I always figured I could detect around a cemetery but not actually on a gravesite - if that makes sense. Even as a little kid, I was always conscious of not walking right on top of someone who was buried - I would literally walk around the plot or stay between the rows. I would feel really, really, really uncomfortable digging on top of someone who has passed on - but I wouldn't feel uncomfortable digging about 3 or 4 feet over from where they lay - especially if for example that person was buried in 1930 and there could be old coins in the area. I'd probably avoid the more recent burial areas though just b/c I'd like to find older things and not just clad.

[FinalLastDays]

This is a question I have asked already. I personally don't think it is morally wrong, but then I do understand that outsiders would consider it morally wrong. Down here in southern Louisiana our graveyards have people buried in tombs above the ground and not below. This is due to our elevation to sea level - unless we have a high hill we cannot bury the dead below the ground. I guess I would freak out more trying to metal detect where people are buried beneath the ground because at least when the tombs are above the ground, you know for sure you are not walking on top of anyone's resting place.

I personally have no intentions of metal detecting any graveyards anytime soon.

[EPC Guy]

I think I'd feel more comfortable digging in a historic-type cemetery (not a cemetery that is still in use). Not that I think there is anything morally wrong with a newer area, if done with the proper respect and code of ethics - but as someone said earlier - you're likely to come under fire by the general public and be labeled a "grave robber" - if so, I'd rather take the heat in search of older, more valuable coins....there's too much clad everywhere else to take a verbal beating in a new cemetery...