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The School of Jack - Jack - 12th June 2013
kevin wooldridge Wrote:A fine sentiment and of course it helps if a supervisor is also technically competent at all of the tasks that an underling is expected to carry out. But the art of leadership is surely delegation and vinnie0057's earlier point about having to do the paperwork in their own time because of pressure to also be 'upfronting' it in the trench, demonstrates that there is a balance to be struck. In the days when I used to interview diggers striving for promotion to supervisor, that was always the question over which most stumbled - where do you draw the line between remaining one of the diggers and getting on with fulfilling your supervisory duties...
Abser-frickin-loutely! :face-approve:
The School of Jack - Jack - 12th June 2013
Dinosaur Wrote:@ Vinnie -Ignore Kevin, yer a man after me own heart (and doing that's the only time you ever get any peace on a busy site)
:face-approve:
No! no! no!! Work should be invoiced for and paid for.........otherwise we will all end up doing it for free, in our own time!
!
The School of Jack - Dinosaur - 12th June 2013
Jack Wrote:No! no! no!! Work should be invoiced for and paid for.........otherwise we will all end up doing it for free, in our own time!
What, standing getting wet? [which was the specific bit of Vinnie's post I was quoting...]
- anyway, mentally reducing 20 pages of levels is a good un-winder over a cuppa when one gets in, and much quicker than people mucking about trying to do them on their phones on site (and getting half of them wrong), beats Sudoku or whatever its called every time although admittedly there's rarely a prize with levels... :face-approve:
The School of Jack - Jack - 12th June 2013
Lesson 6 Efficiency [SIZE=2]
In commercial archaeology, efficiency is key. It is perhaps obvious that if all the diggers spent the majority of their time walking too and from the site, the site hut and tool shed to get tools, numbers, evacuate their bowels,etc little work would get done and as a consequence little archaeology would be saved from the inevitable destruction by construction.
Also those older experienced diggers that seem to produce improbable amounts of work are doing this through often strict self-made rules of efficiency. Point the barrow in the direction it's going to be pushed, wheel on the run before filling it. Straighten the section as your going, not at the end. Clean away from the section to be photograph as your clearing the last of the spoil. Clean around the top of the feature before cleaning out the bottom. Dig, clean, photograph, draw section, draw plan, write context sheets in that order. Everyone has their own system and tricks. The starting digger should study the 'ways' of other diggers to find out what works best for them.
Each site is different, a myriad of obstacles may be placed in your path. The records, tools, toilets etc. may be a long walk from where you are working. The client may require the team to sign in at their central compound before traveling to site. Ground conditions may make wheel barrows near useless. Shelter from the weather may be far from close at hand.
Thinking and planning ahead are the solution, as is adaptability. Carry a notebook, take out a block of numbers when your break is over. Take up all the tools/tubs you'll need for the day (as much as you can predict) on the first trip up to site. Bring one or a couple of full sample tubs back to the store each break. If access is difficult, ask if anything can be done, are their alternative routes? Can vehicles be used to take heavy stuff part the way there or back?
'Forgetting' something and having to walk back to the tool store several times happens, but should be kept to a minimum and not used as an extra break.
Flexibility to work into or through a break to finish off the cleaning and get the photos done before the rain comes is admirable, as long as the break is taken after. Many hours are lost through having to re-clean sections on the next day after overnight rains or even after rain during lunch. Much vital archaeological information is lost through a failure to admit the mistake and the much-needed re-clean.
'I have ta clean this whole area, then re-cut these twa sections, then get the photos done....then I can tak a break!'
- The bulldozer
[/SIZE]
A special important note on spoil.
Where you place/ chuck/ dump your spoil should be chosen very carefully. If there is a communal spoil heap away from the archaeology, fine, but chuck your spoil (if in range and weather permits) or use a wheel barrow. Don't carry your spoil in little bits in a bucket or on your shovel...this will only result in back injury. Also don't let the spoil heap expand so much that it encroaches on that important pit that no one has spotted yet.
If your able to put your spoil near to where your working on your own heap, make sure your not putting it on another feature...clean the area first. Otherwise you'll end up having to move it. Many sites have 'hidden features' that only show up later as the soil oxidises or when the ground is drying from light rain. It's worth taking the time to be sure.
And lastly, don't place your spoil on the grid lines (if you have a grid) it's a real pain to dig a channel through a spoil heap to run a tape between two pegs.
The School of Jack - GnomeKing - 12th June 2013
So sorry to butt in, but I can only take so much.
The mattock is by far the worst tool available for excavation. The fact that they are easily available commercialy in bulk and have been amassed for years by 'long' established outfits by no means indicates appropriateness.
Much better alternatives can be found -I have not used a mattock for excavation in years. My tools allow me dig faster, more accurately, and with higher rates of artefact recovery than I ever did using a McCrappock.
In particular, THIS - " by holding it nearer the head.....using a careful legs spread stance with the shaft between your legs" is guaranteed to cause back problems.
(also make sure your shirt is long enough, and your pants adequate B= :O )
I wont go into details (MY tools, NO, you cant have them!), but one element is a moderately small headed pick (from a small hardware store), hafted myself on a medium/long shaft - this is the closest I now use to a mattock. The results speak for themselves.
I note that 'vintage' mattocks (not easily commercially available) come with a range of head sizes, mostly smaller/lighter than those from e.g. Screwfix or Homebase. Also, Please, please note the vast variety of 'hoes' used in archaeology and elsewhere around the world - whole range of sizes, styles, weights, and applications (never, ever bother with the 'English garden hoe' - it really is just for weeding).
If you think about it, do a bit of research, a keep a keen eye open, you can find much better tools - but I am not doing the research for you.
(I might respond to PMs from genuine newbies who want advice - the rest of you should know better by now, or are beyond redemption)
BTW: dig clay with a McCrappock...REALLY?!!! - do NOT do it. If it is malleable, carve it, e.g. with a spade. It its baked hard, stop for a moment, look at the McCrappock, look again, remember that you are not a total idiot, and then get a better tool.
It is bad enough for anybody starting out in this 'profession' - don’t hamper them with shite tools as well.
["Why have you both got trowels in your hands?" - because we are not ignorant lumpen numpties.]
PS
cleaning by mattock LOL (ffs)- i guess, with the right mix of desperation and necessity (sorry i mean "practice"), a brick, a stoat, and IFA membership card can all be used for all aspects of precision excavation. And can also be used to build a club house for weasel-like corporate lobbyists, if that pickles your fancy - could look like this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNjJe7D090E
anyway,
RIGHT TOOLS 4 THE JOB PEOPLE PLEASE (really...)
The School of Jack - BAJR - 12th June 2013
This is fascinating - as my mattock is a thing of infinite potential and to me is - as you say - a tool in my arsenal of tools. I even have a Kraftse now
in the hands of a skilled paractioner it can be as delicate as you need, with a bit of power and weight behind it.
I would agree that it is appropriate use. - I use it when I need it. I would not be so quick to write it off. rather hammer home Appropriate use.
I love my mattock, and can whack the balls of a fly at 5 yards
Like a JCB in teh right circumstances.
The School of Jack - GnomeKing - 12th June 2013
My membership card, my rodent and a sherd of CBM can build a glass elevator. Monkeys can write linux code (eventually).
However, Wack-ocks can be superseded in every application by a better more effective tool >>>> all of which are MUCH less tiring to use (=happier, more efficient staff, and better archaeology)
Indeed with 'practice' a pointy rock can get a naked ape a long way...(tried a flint 'pick' once - nah)
This is not just personal preference >>> archaeology and staff are both compromised by poor tool technology. >>> they is no solution, except individuals carry their own tools of preference, and let the results be seen.
.
The School of Jack - kevin wooldridge - 12th June 2013
I asked a Swedish friend working in Norway what she would like for a birthday present as I was back in the UK for a visit. She asked for a mattock....(not commonly available in Norway and when they can be found cost in excess of £60). A mattock/krefse 'combination' seems to me to be the ideal mix of tools....totally agree with Gnome King about the 'uselessness' of the English garden hoe.....
The School of Jack - BAJR - 12th June 2013
Quote:This is not just personal preference
It is in a way.. otherwise you are suggesting I - and many others have been crazy whackadoodles all our careers. in teh wrong hands ant teh wrong time the mattock is an item of mass destruction - however. I have seen people destroy with nothing more than a trowel or leafblade --- the practioner should be aware of teh required tool, which is what you are suggesting. I would never use a mattock to move soft soil now, a krafser is the one for me, I would never use a spade to dig a posthole, neither would I dig a ditch with a leafblade.
We all agree on one thing... the English hoe is suited only for the garden. the drag hoe is the one ... being a hoer all my life
The School of Jack - barkingdigger - 12th June 2013
Worked with a guy who used a sharpened mattock to clean sections - surprisingly good, too!
As for Supervisors digging rather than delegating, remember that for most of the 20th century the US Army armed its soldiers with a 30-06 rapid-firing rifle (200yd effective range without telescopic sights, 500+yards with them) and its officers with the Colt .45 ACP (inaccurate beyond 20ft, but able to stop a rhino). The reason was simple - a Lieutenant who was busy attacking the enemy was not doing his primary role of tracking the tactical situation and directing his men to achieve their mission! The sidearm was just there as a last resort. We may all like to get out and dig all day, but if you're in charge you have other tasks that shouldn't be neglected nor carried out in unpaid spare time. Sure, if it's wet you may want to be seen to share the misery, but do it while directing the actions of those you supervise! And don't be afraid to take time record-checking - the record is the whole reason why we dig. After all, once we've destroyed the features, the record is all that's left...