Nighthawking is the theft of archaeological artifacts from protected archaeological sites and areas under the cover of darkness, most commonly by members of the public with the use of a commercial metal detector.
[2] Hobbyist groups as The National Council for Metal Detecting[3] or the Federation of Independent Detectorists[4] are not to be confused with such criminal activity.
It has been claimed, but not proven, that nighthawkers use such groups as a method of obtaining information about archaeological sites.
Nighthawking was the subject of a study[5] undertaken by Oxford Archaeology and collectively funded by English Heritage, Cadw, Historic Scotland, National Museum, National Museum of Wales and the Portable Antiquities Scheme.
Other relevant bodies associated with the study are Archaeology Guernsey, Jersey Heritage Trust, Manx National Heritage, National Museums Scotland and the Northern Ireland Environment Agency.