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.

Nighthawking and the law

Nighthawking breaks the law on a number of points:

Impact on metal detecting in the United Kingdom

Nighthawkers, being criminals, are distinct from law-abiding metal detectorists. Hobbyist groups as The National Council for Metal Detecting or the Federation of Independent Detectorists 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 and the Oxford Archaeology study

Nighthawking was the subject of a study undertaken by Oxford Archaeology and collectively funded by English Heritage, Cadw, Historic Scotland, National Museum, National Museum of Wales and the Portable Antiquities Scheme. The primary aim of the study "Nighthawks and Nighthawking: Damage to Archaeological Sites in the United Kingdom and Crown Dependencies caused by illegal searching and removal of antiquities", was to assess the level of damage caused by Nighthawking to British archaeological heritage and to study the adequacy of current law in dealing with Nighthawking. The review, determined an average of at least 1.5 incidents a month. 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.