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Chevy Chase resident and avocational archeologist Scott Clark spends much of his spare time helping unearth and document historic artifacts. Photo by Ryan K. Morris
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Photo by Ryan K. Morris
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Thorough documentation is an essential step in Clark’s process. Before returning his findings to the property owners, he places them in plastic bag denoting the GPS coordinates of the spot where he unearthed them, and catalogues a description and the whereabouts in a notebook. Photo by Ryan K. Morris
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Thorough documentation is an essential step in Clark’s process. Before returning his findings to the property owners, he places them in plastic bag denoting the GPS coordinates of the spot where he unearthed them, and catalogues a description and the whereabouts in a notebook. Photo by Ryan K. Morris
Somewhere west of Lexington on a wooded Kentucky hillside, Scott Clark sweeps his metal detector through the undergrowth in measured, graceful arcs, listening intently to the cacophony of tones that emanate from his equipment.
A change in the pitch – one that would be barely noticeable to a layman such as myself – piques his interest, and Clark pulls back a step to concentrate the detector over a smaller swath, switching its console to “pinpoint” mode. The detector produces a keening wail similar to a surly R2-D2, indicating a piece of metal. Clark listens closely then drops to his knees – now using a carrot-shaped pinpointing detector and a specialty serrated shovel, he carefully digs up soil, sifts through it and finds the source: “We have a button,” he says, grinning broadly. “We have a military button.”
Clark’s 30-plus years of experience enable him to quickly identify the button as one from a low-ranked Union soldier’s jacket. Despite his earlier attempts to temper my expectations of what we might find as I accompanied him on a hunt at this 19th-century homestead site, Clark has just done what he likes to do best: uncover a true piece of history.
A Chevy Chase resident who runs the successful digital marketing company BuzzMaven by day, Clark devotes much of his spare time to pursuing his hobby as an avocational archaeologist, straddling the line between professional archeologists and amateurs hunting for coins or other items for a personal collection.
“The fun is not in the single artifact thing – it’s in the bigger project,” Clark said. He’s quick to clarify he isn’t out to build a personal collection of artifacts, as many amateur metal detectors – often referred to as “coinshooters” or “relic hunters” in metal-detecting parlance – are. Rather, he’s looking to help contribute to a historic tapestry.
“I don’t want to just rip out the history,” Clark said. “I want to capture it and document it the best I can.”
To that end, when he finds an artifact, he gently removes loose soil, noting the location with a sophisticated GPS unit paired with a smartphone app. He further documents the item by placing it in a numbered plastic bag. After cataloging his finds, Clark returns them to the property owner with a map and his notes, provided the owner agrees everything will stay on the property so that future generations can explore its history.
He maintains that data should ultimately be kept as close to the site as possible – ideally with the property owners. The rigorous documentation process he uses helps create a set of data that helps shed light on the past much more effectively than a shoebox artifact collection in a closet ever could.
“It’s almost like leaving a legacy,” he said. “You’ve helped finish a story.”
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The interesting historic artifacts Clark finds during his digs, he shares with followers under the umbrella of Kentucky Unearthed (@metaldetecting on Instagram). Photo by Ryan K. Morris
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The interesting historic artifacts Clark finds during his digs, he shares with followers under the umbrella of Kentucky Unearthed (@metaldetecting on Instagram). Photo furnished
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The interesting historic artifacts Clark finds during his digs, he shares with followers under the umbrella of Kentucky Unearthed (@metaldetecting on Instagram). Photo furnished
Though he has been tooling around with metal detecting since he was a teenager, Clark credits a workshop he attended in 2013 at Montpelier, the historic Virginia homestead of Founding Father James Madison, with spurring him to elevate his avocation. The hands-on experience working with a professional archaeologist on that historical site helped lead Clark to an epiphany about what his hobby meant to him and could potentially mean to others: namely, that he’s good at it, that his skills are needed and that he “really [doesn’t] need to collect another Mercury dime.”
“If you’re after coins, you find a couple good coins, you think about it for two weeks, and that’s it – maybe bring ’em out and show a friend,” he continued. “But if you rewrite a battle – that’s a big thing. Everyone benefits from it.”
Clark isn’t just throwing “rewriting a battle” out as a general example – in fact, his attention to methodology and commitment to preservation recently led to him and archaeologist Brian Mabelitini receiving one of the state’s top history awards for that very thing. In November, Clark and Mabelitini were awarded the Brig. Gen. William R. Buster Award for work involving more than 500 hours of field and lab work focusing on a site near Perryville Battlefield State Historic Site. Their findings led to a reconsideration of the position of a major Confederate artillery battery, leading in turn to a reinterpretation of the battle itself.
To Clark, the award helped signify a growing recognition of the viability of the type of innovative partnerships on which he loves to embark, between experienced avocational and professional archeologists.
“It was so humbling to have the archaeological and historical community get behind us in support,” Clark said. “I’m really really proud.”
Sweeping his detector across that 19th-century Kentucky homestead back in the fall, Clark detailed the trust relationship he cultivates with the property owners who let him on their land, and keeping specific locations heavily guarded secrets is one way he builds this trust. At this stage, one of Clark’s biggest challenges is finding new sites to explore, as well as procuring the permission and gaining the trust from owners to explore their properties.
“[Permission] is the currency of the hobby,” said Clark. “That’s the thing I need the most.”
“I’ve never had one landowner be sorry that they’ve granted permission,” he added.
One of the primary ways Clark connects with owners of historic properties is through his online presence with Kentucky Unearthed, the digital network he founded to connect history and archaeology buffs. In 2013, he shifted the focus of his website (kentuckyunearthed.com) toward hosting conversations related to advancing the credibility of avocational metal detecting within archaeological and preservationist circles. He also features photographs and videos from his hunts on his Instagram account (@metaldetecting) and on the Facebook page “Kentucky Unearthed,” which advanced from 3,000 to 9,500 followers in 2017.
With his primary career related to digital marketing and search engine optimization, Clark views his online presence as another tool in his increasingly sophisticated arsenal.
“I’m a tech guy, so I tend to use gadgets,” said Clark.
And bringing a high-tech approach to his extracurricular activities, whether it’s retasking map apps to read from historical data or using GPS to catalogue his finds, it’s fitting that Clark would have a sophisticated and reliable means to transport all this gear – and that means is a sturdy and dependable late-model Subaru Outback, fitted for what appears to be a dinosaur hunt.
The custom license plate reads, simply, “Search.”
For more information on Clark’s archeology explorations, visit kentuckyunearthed.com or follow “Kentucky Unearthed” on Facebook.