It has been said by some that "diggers" really only require a rudimentary understanding of archaeology to do their job. If this is the case, I want my money back and, my debt cancelled for a degree that some suggest is pointless. Conversely, it really is no surprise then that those who float upwards to positions of responsibility despite the fact that they hold only a "rudimentary" understanding make life unbearable for the rest of us and-the archaeology. Lets sort this out once and for all- I believe that a field archaeologist is a specialist professional and as such, needs a degree and-recognition rather than being seen as rubbish disposal workers. Do you grown ups want a qualified professional workforce or, teams of volunteers that require nothing but grunt unless they desire the dizzy heights you have obtained? Degree or no degree?

Yes, moaning about pay again but, look at it like this.
You see a job where the pay is advertised at ?13,500 p.a, thats not too bad(although it is low) you apply for the job and get it, only to find that the employer has only employed you for a short term contract and after a few months you are laid off. You may be off for a short length of time and then taken back on again this could happen throughout the year, at the end of the year how much have you earned?
Certainly no where near the ?13,500 originally advertised!
Jobs like these should be advertised as salary pro rata so people know that they are not going to earn the full amount, also as consultants get paid excessive amounts because there work is short term and highly valued (by themselves usually) why can't the diggers who are on short term contracts get paid extra to tide them over the quiet periods, as we at the coalface know, our work is needed and short term so why can't we have some parity or at least fair treatment.
Ok Rant over!
Lets discuss this!!

deep

Is it ok to excavated any burials?
What are the positives for doing this, as the moral implications have being bugging me for a while.
Thank you.

Out of interest was just wondering what people out there felt was a reasonable level of responsability to undertake on a diggers wage - i.e how do you raise the issue of solo watching briefs, training new staff, being left to run sites when senior staff in meetings etc not actually beig fair when there is no move made to appropriatly for the extra work and ****e we have to take!

Kind of a half rant half question but am at the moment getting really anoyed with the expectation that diggers do this on a regular basis in the vain hope of a promotion that never appears!

Dear BAJR,

Could you please wipe off the CV's of people who put 6o yrs or 75 yrs experience on the CV section just to get on the top of the list, particularly as I know one of them is a complete charlatan.

If the other person is a very old digger then, respect is due, but its time you got out of the field.

Gumbo

Tarmac have put in an archaeological mitigation strategy for the Ladybridge planning application to NYCC which totally rubbishes EH's statement that the site is of national importance. They have included land donation and make it sound like they are doing a big favour by donating land to the nation. However this land is boundary land or land that has already been offered and rejected and is mostly not land on Ladybridge.[:0]
Timewatch is once again asking people to write letters of objection to NYCC and Tony Blair as a matter of urgency - the deadline is 9th September.
Please pass this message round to anyone you think will help.

I bought this to use for my MA this year, it is a Trimble pro xr GPS with data logger. Very useful for archaeological sites and stuff like that. Check out the Trimble Website for details of what it will do. I have done some survey work with this and it really does save a lot of time and effort and with a little practice you can throw the EDM in the bin.
Offers please!!

deep

on BBC Yorkshire:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/northyorkshire/ilov...ndex.shtml

Save the Thornborough Henge Complex - http://www.timewatch.org

Well one at the moment.. but as i understand it he's got an interview next week.
Sorry to be cryptic but, the company I used to work for(contact me for details in secret)having treated the staff so badly for so long have now found themselves in the dubious position of having only one member of staff left!
And, as I said earlier he's leaving, can't help but chuckle.
Perhaps if the company had provided H&S equipment or had provided site huts for shelter from the elements or had not laid the staff off everytime a job finished or had paid everyone holiday pay not just the choosen few or had not sacked people for going sick or made people wait a month for their pay or actually treated the staff like human beings and not money making machines then maybe, just maybe they might actually be able to hold on to the people who they need to do the work, the DIGGERS!!

deep

My recent jolly now counts as the second time that I have worked with classics types. I have to say that I have been inspired to read Aristotle, Plato and a few other bits. Homer I still find as accessible as Avril Lavigne`s undies (sadly) but am picking up the general gist of multi-layered analogy! Without offering my own opinion, what are everyones opinion/experiences of classics types in the field?[?]