My name is Jean-Pierre



I was born in a small village in Limburg, a province in the northeastern part of Belgium.
Here I grew up and went to school.
My interest in archeology was awakened by the lessons of history.  I learned the different periods known as the Stone Age, Iron Age, Bronze, etc …

I met two amateur archaeologists who had been searching for over twenty years for artifacts from these periods. They used a long punch (dipstick) for soil layers trying to spot.  I went along with them and learned to locate and retrieve urns and other objects.
My interest was especially focused on their metal detector. But with their limited knowledge as far as operation and adjustment were, their success rate to detect something was therefore low. I immediately saw the enormous benefits of such a metal detector.  The high price kept me off the purchase, at least temporarily.

The metal detector was ideal to track objects from the early Bronze Age and Iron Age, and our region lent itself perfectly for it, so taught history.
There were the following periods: Stone Age, Iron Age, Bronze Age, the Roman Empire, The Celts, Medieval, closer Napoleon Bonaparte who wanted to conquer Europe, ditto Adolf Hitler, World War I & II occupation by the German commanders. To date there are still wars in various places in the world … shame!

Where people once lived there were settlements and their remains were buried there.
Between the tribes wars were conducted and there were people removals.
Through it all, there are lots of treasures lost and thus to be found.
Many of these objects are now on display in museums or you can consult books.
Many items were never recovered and that makes it so interesting to study a little before going out with your metal detector. My advice: study the history of your country before you  go out to search for antiquities.  Know that every country has its past and thus carries a history.

By the late 70s I finally decided to buy me a metal detector.  This was not easy those days because there was hardly any information (The Internet did not exist yet). After some research I found a shop in Brussels, our capital city.

Here I bought my first detector, a White’s 6000 D2. With this metal detector, I found many beautiful objects.  Besides the necessary research work, I got increasingly interested in the technology (ie electronics) behind the machine.  I managed to build an amplifier that allowed me to search deeper for about 20 percent.  A victory!

I teamed up with my friend and we were seen more frequently in the fields. This went not unnoticed and we attracted the attention of other people. The idea to establish a metal club was born. Via advertisements in local newspapers and radio we became known.
We arranged public exhibitions where people could visit the objects that we had found. Others who also had metal detectors now joined us. We quickly formed a club. We soon got responses from many people who had lost property asking us for help. This article can be read on  this site under the heading ”SUCCESS STORIES


Click on a picture to read more about the restauration of my Willys Jeep.

Pictures of my restored Willys Jeep model CJ-3B. Ready to go and fully equipped for future trips.