Treasure Hunting

Treasure Hunting is the physical search for treasure, a broader pursuit than the live Metal Detecting hobby already on this atlas, which the treasure-hunting literature itself names as only one of its methods. One of the most popular kinds of modern treasure hunter is the historic shipwreck salvor, attempting to locate and recover sunken vessels and their cargo for commercial or archaeological value, though finding a wreck can mean searching tens of thousands of square nautical miles of open ocean, which is part of why shipwrecks remain so difficult for archaeologists to find. On land, metal detecting was popularised as a hobby during the 1970s, when enthusiasts began combing beaches and fields for lost jewelry, pocket change and shipwreck artifacts washed ashore; a metal detector typically costs between about 150 and 600 dollars, though premium models run into the thousands, and most hobbyists go years without a significant find. Archaeologists themselves use metal detectors to scan large sites for artifacts without extensive excavation, and skilled amateur detectorists have gone on to help professionals discover previously unknown sites, with detectorist finds in the United Kingdom in particular having meaningfully shaped early understanding of British history.