Treasure hunters
turned down by Myrtle Beach City Council after asking for permission to dig in
the sand for gold and silver haven't given up on their quest.
Council rejected
the proposal under an ordinance that allows recreational beach digging if the
holes are filled back-in — but not the sort of excavation the men want to do.
Robert
Thomason of Spruce Pine, N.C., and Wayne Gaither of North Myrtle Beach hope the
council will make an exception for them the second time around.
"There
ought to be a way to get a variance," Thomason said.
He
hopes the public will support their project, which has state approval.
A
portion of any emeralds, gold or silver found in the dig would go to the Horry
County Museum, he said.
Thomason
said the location is thought to contain valuables from the shipwreck of a
Spanish galleon.
He said
the dig would take about two days and happen in the winter.
"It
would be a wonderful thing to promote tourism," he said. "Key West
would not be the only place on earth known for its wonderful treasure."
Thomason
said he is confident that his intuition and a technique called dowsing have led
him to the right place for the treasure.
Wikipedia
Dowsing is also known
as divining (especially in reference to
interpretation of results),[4] doodlebugging[5](particularly in the United
States, in searching for petroleum[6]) or (when searching
specifically for water) water
finding, water witching (in the United States) or water dowsing.
A Y- or
L-shaped twig or rod, called a dowsing
rod, divining rod (Latin: virgula divina or baculus
divinatorius), a "vining rod" or witching rod is sometimes used during dowsing,
although some dowsers use other equipment or no equipment at all.
The
motion of dowsing rods is nowadays generally attributed to the ideomotor effect
Practitioners
of dowsing use rudimentary tools — usually copper sticks or wooden
"divining rods" that resemble large wishbones — and what they
describe as a natural energy to find water or minerals hidden deep underground,
according to The Associated Press.
The
council was concerned about disturbing the beach and who would own treasure
found on public land, Councilman Randall Wallace said.
But he
was intrigued by the idea.
"I'd
be open to listening to them again," he said.
The
state Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management issued a permit to
Thomason to dig at least seven exploration pits in a designated area of the
beach that is beyond the mean high waterline. Digging would be done by hand and
backhoe.
But the
treasure hunters still need city approval.
The
state OK'd the beachfront dig from 3rd Avenue South to near 1st Avenue North
and from 6th Avenue North to 12th Avenue North. The exploration pits would be
up to 4 feet wide and 12 feet long and up to 10 feet deep, according to a copy
of the state permit.
It stipulates
that the work must happen outside of turtle nesting season, uncovered holes
could not be left on the beach at night, and the beach must be returned to
pre-project conditions immediately upon completion of the work.
The
State Historic Preservation Office and the S.C. Institute of Archaeology and
Anthropology must be notified of historic, cultural or archaeological finds,
the permit says.
Archaeological
finds consist of items 50 years or older that were made or used by man,
including arrowheads, ceramic shards, bricks, worked wood, bone and stone,
metal and glass objects and human skeletal remains.
In
addition, Thomason and Gaither must comply with local and federal ordinances.
Dr.
Michael Trinkley of the Chicora Foundation said dowsing is not considered a
scientific method because it is not replicable.
"You
can’t have three people get the same results," he said.
The
foundation, based in Columbia, is a nonprofit heritage preservation
organization that does archaeological and historical research in the Southeast.
Hundreds
of people in South Carolina go treasure hunting using metal detectors but they
must have a landowner's permission, Trinkley said.
Otherwise,
trespassers may face a fine and jail time, said state archaeologist Jonathan
Leader.
A
three-time violator can be charged with a felony, he said.
He
suggested metal detector enthusiasts work with archaeologists to avoid
disturbing the historical record.
"Excited
is good. Trained is better," he said.
Archaeologists
use field notes, records, photos and other things to develop a story around an
artifact. That sort of thing is lost when people just in it for the money dig
for relics, Trinkley said.
"It's
a minority but unfortunately a few people can do a tremendous amount of
damage," he said.