curators

[Troll]

Just wonderin`... Would`nt it be good to see a curator ask to inspect all of a site`s records and drawings during a visit? Equally, would be an idea to communicate with the archaeologists in the trenches too. There are times you know when we lowly diggers have to work under some rather questionable management. Some openly incompetent, some simply mad as a balloon. A loon. Barking. Embarrassingly challenged. And yet, County Mounties have the awful habit of wandering on site, having tea with the grown-ups, do the obligatory site-tour (with hands clasped firmly behind back) and then p*** off to the happy eater. C`mon you guys, you would`nt have to re-write some of those loons reports for them if you pulled em` up regular! Equally, there are lots of diggers out there battling against commercial constraints and that`s bad enough without having to babysit a muppet for a manager. The IFA are not policing standards. Instead, they send us people that are Missing Intrinsic Field Ability (MIFA).

[Curator Kid]

I've asked to see site records during visits on a number of occasions. And very disappointing it has been too, as I've seen the quality of diggers' record completion drop noticeably since I was digging. Some of this is due to time constraints - yes, caused by underestimation of the appropriate timescales by bad project management, but a lot of it is to do with a lack of proper training. Both these are areas where unit staff can, and will, have far more influence than I ever could. As for site visits, well I don't wander around with my hands behind my back, I've never been offered a cup of tea, and when I p*** off, it's quite often to go back to my office to try and help you guys by sorting it out with the unit director if I've seen something I don't like. I hear the same rumours as you about malpractice all the time, and if it was reported to me formally, or I saw it going on, I can do (and have done) my best to get it fixed. However, if a bunch of diggers on site think that their manager is incompetant or downright dodgy, why should it suddenly become someone else's responsibility to point that out to the unit director or the IFA? We all have a professional duty to monitor our own standards as well as those who we work with, so blaming it on someone else when nothing gets done is just buck passing.

[BAJR Host]

Curator Kid has it just right. responsibility.
What are you willing to put up with?

I love a good site visit... (when I get time) and it is intersting to see the quality of site records.. and the strange but true fact that nobody seems to really know why they are there. I remember (and I don't mean 50 years ago!) that we would talk and discuss onsite... wht we were doing... why we were doing ... what were we finding... what did it mean... what was the story.

Demand to know.. where is the project brief? whats the point of just digging holes...good records - good plans.. you know it makes the job worthwhile then [?]

[troll]

Points taken-thank you.Here`s what I should`nt have to put up with;
the responsibility of pointing out the obvious to unit managers, the responsibility of exposing the absurdities of the IFA and their members, the responsibility of exposing muppetry on-site. Forgive me for saying so but, these responsibilities lay within the job description of people occupying secure careers.It has to be said that I find it nauseating that the buck somehow seems to be floating down to the coal-face. We`ve got enough on our plates. Please don`t tell us that you can`t spot f***whittery without our help!