Assessing the Impacts of the Treasure Act and the Portable Antiquities Scheme on Collecting in English Museums: A Case Study from Cambridge

The influence of the Treasure Act and the wider reporting of metal-detected finds in England and Wales via the Portable Antiquities Scheme on our knowledge of the past has been the focus of much recent discussion and research. The impact of the Treasure Act and more broadly the continuing popularity of metal detecting as a hobby on collecting in English archaeology museums has provoked less attention. Through the example of a collection of metal-detected finds donated to the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology (MAA), University of Cambridge, this article examines the differences, in terms of their potential for knowledge, between Treasure acquired by museums and other items collected by metal detectorists but currently in private hands. It also considers the possible impacts if, like MAA, museums concentrate on acquiring Treasure rather than collecting other material found by metal detectorists.