http://www.38degrees.org.uk/

Dear GK,

I wanted to let you know straight away. I'm afraid we lost the gagging law vote in the House of Lords this evening. That's it - it's going to become law.

It couldn't have been closer. On the final vote, 245 Lords voted in favour and 245 against. Unfortunately the rules mean that in the case of a tie, the government gets its way.

Personally I feel pretty devastated about this. I'm worried about what it means for the future of 38 Degrees. More importantly, I'm worried about what it means for the future of democracy, and what it tells us about the state of British politics.

But I also feel proud of everything 38 Degrees members did together to fight this. I hope you do too.

There will be a lot of thinking and discussion to be done in the coming days. 38 Degrees members will need to pull together to think about how to fight this terrible law. And we'll need to work out how we can keep standing up for all we believe in - despite the restrictions the government is trying to impose.

But right now, I feel sure of one thing. We won't give up.

Sorry I'm not emailing with better news, and thank you for everything you've done,


David


PS: 38 Degrees members are discussing the outcome on Facebook. You can join in at https://www.facebook.com/peoplepowerchange

Here's some of the comments so far:

Peter: I am Spartacus. Who's with me?

Zoë: sad news, let's keep fighting to change it

Kirsty: The government shouldn't even be allowed to vote on something like this.... it should be a vote left to the general public. Of course the government want us mute so this is no surprise

Peter: I strongly believe there should now be a coordinated campaign of civil disobedience. During the election campaign, all those organisations that stood against this atrocious and illiberal legislation should simply ignore it and campaign as usual. Maybe with a campaign fund set up to help defend the smaller organisations.

Liz: Gradually democracy is being eroded. The arrogance of this government is beyond belief.


http://www.38degrees.org.uk/


http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014...ouse-lords
http://greenparty.org.uk/news/2014/01/29...ew-cooper/
http://www.oxfam.org.uk/get-involved/cam...bying-bill

http://www.popularresistance.org/uk-gove...rganizers/

http://www.catch21.co.uk/2014/01/beware-...agging-law

The French finds database...


Artefacts is not a finished product, but a evolving programme reflecting the work of a group of researchers : the database can therefore be improved, and a careful user will find some mistakes which can be corrected as soon as we are informed. The aim of the project is to offer a survey, as complete as possible, of all forms of artefacts, arranged in wide periods. A corpus of finds is out of the question, Artefacts only aims to produce an inventory of forms (types) for which will be provided, as far as possible, a detailed description, a selected bibliography and a chronology. The objects mentioned and the illustrations are only here as examples.

NB : all the material of Artefacts comes from legal archaeological research and scientific literature.

http://artefacts.mom.fr/en/home.php

Mackenzie Crook to play metal detector enthusiast in one of four new BBC4 comedies

Crook draws on his own experiences as an amateur archaeologist with the six-part Detectorists, RadioTimes.com can reveal.

This could be terrible for so so many reasons... making fun of detectorists for one: as they "embark on a journey of greed, betrayal, rejection and redemption as they hurtle towards Danbury Metal Detecting Club’s greatest ever find,”


I suspect archaeologists will be represent in a touching and funny way as well. ( possibly mad hair/beard/stripy Jersey or tweed.. ) Well if you can't laugh at yourself...

So lets see!



http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2014-01-3...4-comedies

Revamped the BAJR Guides...

http://www.bajr.org/BAJRread/BAJRGuides.asp


Now... anyone fancy creating a new one??

[h=1]Analysis: New dawn for English Heritage[/h] By Sam Burne James, Third Sector, 28 January 2014



http://www.thirdsector.co.uk/Fundraising...-heritage/

Quote:[h=2]The stewardship of England's national monuments is going to be handed to a charity next year. Sam Burne James reports on the plans and interviews English Heritage chair Sir Laurie Magnus[/h] In some ways, the quango English Heritage already looks, feels and operates like a charity. It benefits from Gift Aid on membership and donations to its charitable arm, the English Heritage Foundation, and has a large volunteer corps numbering more than 1,000 in 2012/13, up by a quarter on the year before.

So if part of EH - full title the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England - becomes a charity as planned in April 2015, the existing foundation will be used as the vehicle; its purpose will just be extended from raising money for more than 400 major sites of English history to managing and taking care of them as well. It will also retain the English Heritage name and logo.
The part of the operation that carries the statutory duty to preserve England's wider historic environment will remain part of the commission under the new title Historic England; and the commission will divide the funding it gets from the Department for Culture, Media & Sport between English Heritage and Historic England.
A recent DCMS consultation, which closes on 7 February, says the charity will receive an initial eight-year licence to manage the National Heritage Collection and will continue to get government funding, in decreasing amounts, over that period, at the end of which it is expected to become self-financing. But half way through, in 2019, a review of licensing agreements and future contracts will take place.
The DCMS says English Heritage will not necessarily be the preferred bidder for future contracts. It says the review "will consider all options", including external tendering.

Most intriguing....

More details unearthed about Godalming car park skeletons

During routine archaeological surveys in March a number of skeletons were discovered. A Freedom of Information request has shed more light on the discovery

Papers released under the Freedom of Information Act have revealed more details about the burial ground discovered under a Godalming car park last year.
An archaeology specialist has described the find as “exciting” and a “matter of huge public interest”, but Waverley Borough Council is gearing up for continuing with its affordable housing development at the Station Road site as soon as possible.

Get Surrey reported in March that while routine archaeological surveys were being carried out for the development, a number of skeletons were discovered.
Information sent to Surrey County Archaeological Unit, reveals that more than 20 human skeletons were in fact unearthed.

read on:
http://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/local-ne...rk-6556565

:face-thinks:

Having read the thread on archaeology and health, I thought I would share my thoughts on the tenth anniversary of a life-changing mistake.

With an increase in the numbers of field archaeologists drawn abroad lured by the prospect of tomb excavation in "exotic" locations brimming with exciting archaeological landscapes, I thought I should draw your attention to some fairly serious risks. It goes without saying that health and safety standards differ on a site by site basis but even more so when abroad. I took part in the excavation of rock cut chambered tombs dating from the Bronze Age onwards in the Near East in 2004.

The cemetery is one of the largest in that particular country and had been targeted by looters for centuries. A significant number of archaeologists spent their days underground in confined spaces often crawling on their bellies in the dark-as an aside, this was the first time that I had ever had to plan and survey an underground tomb complex-quite a trial! :face-approve:

As a high number of the tombs had been subjected to the attention of looters exploiting the high demands of international dealers, wild animals were in the habit of occupying those spaces and dragging their prey in with them. Little did we know that a number of the tombs had a nasty surprise in store for us. After only a few days underground, we started noticing red bites all over our bodies and thought nothing of them (insect bites being a part of the exotic package!).

One by one, eleven of us went down with severe endemic Typhus. I`ll gladly share my experience of this for you but in precis form, left untreated this disease has a 70% mortality rate and is quite frankly hideous. It began for me with head to toe itching bites. The itching drove me nuts and I looked as though I had measles. Once in the bloodstream Typhus can take around 10 days to take control. As such we all took the bites in our stride and continued crawling around underground. I came back from work one afternoon and was immediately overcome by the sensation of being so damned cold I thought I was going to die. I took to my sleeping bag fully clothed and was there 24 hours straight. For those 24 hours I suffered almost constant convulsions curled up in a ball. I was soaking wet and could hear sweat running on to the floor under the camp bed. If that wasn`t enough, the hallucinations were unbearable and unrelenting. To cut a long gory story short, my travel insurance company told me they were about to organise a helicopter to fly me to hospital but I did eventually get to a doctor and was flown home to the UK soon after. A spell in a tropical disease unit was followed by 5 months of recovery on some serious meds. For the past ten years I have wrestled with the most debilitating headaches every 7 weeks. This apparently can be caused by a form of encephalytis as the high body temperatures during convulsion phases can damage the protective lining of the brain. I have central nervous system damage that manifests in tremors in both hands and a speech defect. Lucky me.

The moral of the story is this........for those of you who have had your fill of wet clay UK sites and the endless drone of heavy machinery, and those of you who seek the Indiana Jones excitement of archaeology.......please don`t take risk assessments for granted. Don`t just read and sign them-take a long hard look at what the risks could actually be and if you do get on to the site.......maintain dynamic risk assessments throughout. If it aint right, don`t do it. I yearned for dart-firing Pygmies, gun-fights with armed Nazis and secret chambers.....I made a life-changing mistake and am still paying for it. :I

'Our Portable Past' has been reissued, replacing the 2006 version.

Can I encourage colleagues to review the new statement, update any web links and dispose of old copies of the replaced 2006 version.

The new version in online at www.english-heritage.org.uk/publications/ourportablepast

seems apt, given our recent discussions

Hi All
What do people think of this?

http://www.somerset.gov.uk/irj/public/se...87fb542921

<span class="dropcap">A</span> lecturer at the University of Hertfordshire has spoken out against his bosses for failing to check a building project was not damaging valuable historical remains.

The university has admitted that a building firm currently constructing halls of residence on the College Lane campus did not fully comply with planning conditions requiring archaeological surveys.
<a href="http://www.bajrfed.co.uk/bajrpress/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/368997948.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-566" alt="368997948" src="http://www.bajrfed.co.uk/bajrpress/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/368997948.jpg" width="490" height="326" /></a>

Earlier this month, it started test trenches that should have been dug before construction work started.

Although it claimed the belated work proved builders had not damaged anything of value or historical interest, Lib Dem county councillor Paul Zukowskyj, who teaches geography at the university, said it must be more careful.

He told the <em>Welwyn Hatfield Times</em>: “Because the work wasn’t done in the first place, we will never know what was there.

“The trial trenches obviously have not found any Roman floor mosaics, but there are other things that could be of heritage and historical interest.

“The university needs to make sure they are on top of their contractor, and they need to make sure they are scrupulously careful with other building projects.”

Read more

<a href="http://www.whtimes.co.uk/news/university_s_belated_archaeology_tests_in_hatfield_1_3215454" target="_blank"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>http://www.whtimes.co.uk/news/university_s_belated_archaeology_tests_in_hatfield_1_3215454</strong></span></a>
<h3>:: <a href="http://www.bajrfed.co.uk/forum.php">Full BAJR Forum</a> ::</h3>

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