Humour intended...

http://www.minelabowners.com/images/pic_...000019.swf

http://www.ukdfd.co.uk
Recording OUR heritage for future generations.

Now that 2006 is fast nearing its end how are people feeling about the progress made by BAJR, IFA (inc diggers forum) and Prospect and are you feeling positive about what can be achieved in 2007?

Am prompted to write this as Ive just got back from probably the worst clay site ever.Add to this a bit of Noahs Ark weather (upside-down rain) for the past month and your there. Whats the most mingin site you had to endure? No names obviously- a county and associated weather/geological/whatever, will do nicely Last years winter was spent in Leicester where we had hailstones, snow and lethal wind-chill (damned fine kebabs though) and this year I got caught in a tornado whilst delivering samples in Leeds! Clay-all pumps and puddles....:face-huh:

..knowledge without action is insanity and action without knowledge is vanity..(imam ghazali,ayyuhal-walad)

Why dont units use the same job titles as are used on the pay scales? I have found from experience that its difficult to argue for equating job descriptions and requirements to the pay scales (although it seemed no problem for our beloved DC)and terms such as project assistant, field officer etc mean different things in different circumstances and units.

And why in the cotswold advertisement is a project archaeologist a site assistant 2 job? Surely if an archaeologist is routinely expected to carry out watching briefs and take responcability on a regular basis it belongs in the supervisor grade? The odd WB at site assistant level would seem fine but as a day in day out job seems to take the mickey a bit?

A new-style Newsletter, called Borrowed Times, has been sent to all UKDFD members, today. It is our means of keeping everyone up to date, and showing some of the exciting things that we have planned for the New Year.

If you would like a copy of Borrowed Times click the link below.
http://www.ukdfd.co.uk/newsletters/ukdfd...tter01.pdf

Gary


http://www.ukdfd.co.uk
Recording OUR heritage for future generations.

I have started this thread so the discussion on pipelines van continue.

Unitof 1 is right that there is a difference with SU jobs - not about the "archive" but in fact about the ownership of artefacts which do belong to the landowner.

He also has a point when he says that archaeologists often do not give landowners the respect they deserve.

I would say however that the archaeology on pipelines - particularly at the EIA is actually massively over done. Recently I came across an EIA which offerred to excavate and sample for enviro every hedgeline crossed.

I would also say my experiences of <edit<a utility company>> in particular is far from satisfactory when it comes to the way they treat people affected by their work.

Peter

The rules say:

::Level 7: ie Unit DIRECTOR / PROFESSOR / HIGH LEVEL SPECIALIST :: min. £28,221 + (but reasonable to expect min £34,986+)

Top of the ladder. Responsibilities for entire Units, Departments, Organisations. Must be able to cary out all aspects of chosen field, lead with confidence and have a standing within Heritage Community.

Is this grade really the highest grade for archaeologist?

Is 28k - less than the pay for a teacher with a few years experience the best we can hope for as being top of the career ladder?

I can not help but wonder that preserving differentials within a hierarhy is a contributing factor to low pay. Is the time right to define what the most senior posts in archaeology actually are and what the pay expectations should be.

What I have in mind are for example consultants who manage an inter disciplinary team or are head of the conservation sections of a planning department or even head of a planning department.

Peter Wardle
(expecting lots of comments about range rovers and suits.[img][/img]

Was just wondering if it would be possible for advertisers on the BAJR to provide a minimum contract length when advertising posts as recently i acepted a position but when the contract arrived it ever so slightly different to what was discussed over the phone, and instead of stating the contract end date it said up to or before the given date! This has resulted in a large group of unemployed archaeologists with no work over christmas.

If when the jobs were advertised a date was given would this give us more protection against this happening again in the future?

What difficulties are there for an American, currently living in the US, in getting an archaeological job in the UK?

- this will go on the BAJR FAQ section

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

I serve on a committee that advises a designated museum on its archaeology collection and archive policy. We have been asked to advise the curator on whether or not it is acceptable for the museum to dispose of certain excess archived artefacts and if so how this should be done.

What we are talking about is, for example, the 100 kg of roman pot sherds and roof tiles from a villa site, the 200kg of building stone from a medieval castle and similar types of thing . Also included could be large quantities of animal bone and in some circumstances even human material.

The reason this is being considered is the cost of storage for material that may never be looked at again.

The options being considered are that the artefacts that are being disposed of should be sampled, a representative sample kept and then the bulk of the material is then deposited/ buried on the site it was originally excavated from in some kind of pit or silo.

All in all we are talking about roughly 1 tonne of material.

We have to consider the unacceptable and escalating cost of storage, the need to preserve and archive for future study and how to dispose of excess materials in a manner that is acceptable to the archaeological community

This is a difficult job for the committee members to consider and I am asking BAJR Bods to let me know their feelings and ideas so that we can come up with an acceptable way forward. we suspect that we may be the first museum to look at this problem but believe that other will have to follow soon. It is for this reason that we need to set an example of good practice.


Magpie