It is that time of year again! Panto season in Lowlandshire!

sit back and laugh ... from my dear friend John Wood...

> This year the Lowlandshire Light Opera Society has joined forces with Channel 7 to produce an Archaeological Panto Extravaganza.

> All your favourite Channel 7 archaeological TV presenters feature amongst a cast of thousands.

> No expense spared in this lavish production.

> Best viewed in Full Screen mode (F11)

> You are cordially invited to view the trailer, unless you can get to Lowlandshire to see the real thing!

Click here: http://www.lowlandshire.com

"No job worth doing was ever done on time or under budget.."
Khufu

Following on from my post about Discrimination http://bajrblog.wordpress.com/2007/12/04...imination/

A leaflet dropped on my desk today. Entitled Inclusive, Accessible Archaeology which aims to address the dual issues of disability and transferable skills in the teaching of archaeological fieldwork.

I have made a long post about it here
http://bajrblog.wordpress.com/2007/12/27...l-present/


The emphasis of the development is a self-evaluation tool kit for physical and psychological abilities in fieldwork. The tool increases students' awareness of their acquisition of transferable skills and promotes careers management skills.

Thoughts


"No job worth doing was ever done on time or under budget.."
Khufu

Has anyone out there come across a virtual game 'second life'?

How about a virtual game 'new archaeology'

when everyone starts off on a level playing field

and see who makes it to the super unit

the county mounty

director of the ifa/bajr

how would a virtual view to archaeology work? better or worse??

by Kenneth Aitchison, Head of Professional Development at the Institute of Field Archaeologists.

He writes here in a personal capacity.

Gordon Brown likes to talk about “Britishness” and its importance in contemporary society. His interest in Britishness is very definitely not founded on chauvinistic beliefs that British people are in some way privileged and unique, or that we are better than others, but in that it can support the one identity that everyone living in or connected to this country shares.........

read on here

http://kenny.aitchison.typepad.com/kenny...itish.html


So what do people think? Is he right ... and what does it mean or matter.

Do we increase and expand our views... and as he says

"We are moving on from the days when we presented ourselves to the rest of the world as being petty and divided, preciously fighting turf wars over matters that were of no consequence to anyone outside our charmed circles – although, for now, there are still some that will not participate, and choose to follow their own, non-participatory paths. These self-centred and self-serving individuals will find themselves increasingly sidelined and irrelevant as our professional structures transform, update and evolve to address the needs of our workplaces and of ensuring the public benefits from our work."

Who is being described as "self-centred and self-serving individuals " I would love to know, as only by knowing can this be discussed.

I agree that we have to see the wider picture, to cooperate and combine strengths rather than bicker and let personal feuds impact on professional integrity... Gawd forbid that institutions would let individuals views stand in the way of forward thinking and committed change, and it would be wrong to see a group or groups misuse identity to further their own petty fiefdoms. Individuality is part of Britishness however, so perhaps a cooperation between individuals and groups is the best way forward indeed. A bit like the IFA and CBA (big groups) working with BAJR (individuals) all playing on strengths, and supporting each other as best they can, to give a true sense of Britishness and inclusion.

Any thought?

"No job worth doing was ever done on time or under budget.."
Khufu

oh... this is the one for me....

Find 'degrees of confluence' of lat and long across the world...

yes.. at last you can find a use for that GPS and a purpose if you are in a country that has lots still to 'find'

Interested? Intrigued? go her to read all about it and then.. join in !

I am after one in Jordan ... the last one left!

And while we think about this... could we not have something like this for archaeology sites? hmmmm think on!

http://pasthorizons.wordpress.com/2007/1...e-project/


"No job worth doing was ever done on time or under budget.."
Khufu

http://bajrblog.wordpress.com/2007/12/22...ice-video/

For those that missed it or are interested.. a 6 minute film of the event...

perhaps you have to be there... but anyway, for those of us who can't... what a loverly sight... magical

"No job worth doing was ever done on time or under budget.."
Khufu

for those that don't venture down to the IFA section of BAJR

----- if you are an IFA member of any level... have you updated your address details? -------

The latest issue of The Archaeologist(number 66) is in the post at the moment, however it will be with our members later than we originally planned and many members may not yet have received the forms to update us on their contact details for the 2008 yearbook, and the deadline will be shorter than we would have liked when we went to press. We have had the forms on the IFA website since mid November and have been sending them out with the JIS for the past few weeks. If you do need to update your details please download the forms from our website (more details at http://www.archaeologists.net/modules/ne...toryid=224) and return them to us as soon as possible.

The deadline is 4 January 2007 and we absolutely must have your information by that date so that we don't miss our deadlines with the publishers.

"No job worth doing was ever done on time or under budget.."
Khufu

http://bajrblog.wordpress.com/2007/12/21/57/

A bit of a sad News story ..

A cumrian archaeologist goes bankrupt and owes cash to other archaeologists ... a real shame. As this was community work.

"No job worth doing was ever done on time or under budget.."
Khufu

I have posted this here at Hosty's request after reading the original post on the UKDN. (Thanks David)



To date, most of the UKDN campaign to support the PAS has been centred around the hobby of metal detecting, to a degree this is rightly so, given how the PAS impacts upon and liaises with the hobby.

However, although many of us are fully aware of the Portable Antiquities Scheme's wider activities, many on here may not be so aware.

Many of us already know of the stats I am about to draw your attention too, again many will not be. To add credibility to this post I will draw the stats from the recent post on the CBA's website.. (so as not to be seen to be drawing facts out of the ether).

Let's for the duration of the rest of this post put to one side (but not forget) the aspect of metal detecting and look at how the PAS has interacted with the wider public and vise versa.

I'll begin with the PAS database, which has been stated elsewhere, detectorist may well be the main contributors to it, but we are not the main beneficiaries..

Quote:quote:The data generated by PAS is increasingly being used for research: 17 recently-completed or current PhDs and 30 other dissertations which use PAS data, and PAS is a partner in 8 AHRC-funded research projects.

Quote:quote:At least 416 articles about the work of PAS were published or broadcast in 2006, including academic publications, articles in the popular press, and reports on television and radio.

Quote:quote:In 2006, 247,103 unique visitors visited the PAS database and website (http://www.finds.org.uk) and there have been almost 82 million user hits; a 62% increase on 2005–6. New features have been developed including educational resources for children and a Roman coin identification guide.

Quote:quote:54 HERs have now signed the data transfer agreement and have access to PAS data and we have also agreed in principle with Exegesis to develop a PAS module for their HBSMR programme.

Quote:quote:In 2006 PAS organised 776 outreach events, attended by 37,500 people, including 7,522 children

Quote:quote:as part of National Archaeology Week 2007 PAS staff were involved in 69 events across the country, attended by 6,925 people and examined 2,331 finds.

Quote:quoteAS has proved effective at bringing people into museums who don't otherwise attend them; 46% of visitors to Fabulous Finds Days (Museums & Galleries Month 2005) had never previously been to that museum before.

Quote:quote:FLO's add important element of expertise to many, especially smaller, museums, many of which have lost archaeological curators over the last few years. <snip> 8% of finds recorded by PAS (24,000 over last ten years) enter museums.

Quote:quote:In 2006 MLA and the BM concluded an agreement with eBay to monitor the site for unreported Treasure. During the first year 183 cases were investigated further and consequently the number of Treasure finds has declined markedly. A member of PAS staff has become a special constable with the MP'S Art & Antiques Unit.

Quote:quote:In 2006 a Code of Practise for Responsible Metal Detecting in England and Wales was endorsed by the main archaeological, metal-detecting and land-owners' organisations. For the first time this provides an objective statement of what is meant by responsible metal-detecting, focusing on the importance of find recording and avoiding damage to archaeological sites.

Quote:quoteAS is of interest to governments and scholars in other countries, including the USA, Russia, China, France, Scandinavia, Holland, Germany, Austria, Greece and Turkey.

Quote:quote:The 2006 PAS 'User Survey' showed a majority of respondents 'agreed' or 'strongly agreed' that PAS was successful in meeting its aims, and in every case the positive response increased between 2004 and 2006. PAS has exceeded in its targets set by MLA.

Thought I would wish everyone a Merry Christmas.
http://www.minelabowners.com/gary/merry_christmas.swf



Website for responsible Metal Detecting
http://www.ukdfd.co.uk
Recording Our Heritage For Future Generations.