20th February 2008, 09:48 AM
While I'm in the mood for presenting articles :
This one was written to reply to the Opinion in Current Archaeology 213 - concerning how Community Archaeology is not being supported by Curatorial Staff...
It was with great interest that I read the article in current archaeology 213 last month on ?Community archaeology-against the odds?.
As a development control archaeologist working within a council I was not surprised at the initial reaction to the opinions of the authors. There was anger at what was seen to be an ill-informed point of view with sweeping generalisations and a somewhat vague grasp on contract archaeology. Suggesting that ?..most excavations were very small evaluation trenches dug by hand to a shallow depth and that is the primary objective was a collection of artefacts rather than features..?, which was, to say the least, baffling.
I expect that there will be a number of replies from curators and contractors letting off steam, in the general direction of this article. Many will say that there is a great deal of archaeology taking place within the community, and that they can name several projects in the area, they may also say that the authors only had to ask to find out what was going on around the UK.
Curators are singled out as providing little support to local groups, however they are inhibited by budgetary constraints on time and resources.
From a certain angle however the authors are right, there is a lack of easily accessible guides and templates to enable local groups to begin, and I stress begin, an archaeological project.
They do exist, and in Scotland we are in some ways blessed by what could be described as a template for just such a requirement.
Scotland's Rural Past is an exemplar five year project which supports local committees across Scotland to investigate deserted rural settlements. The website provides a portal from dozens of project groups to communicate and access essential information, including templates and recording, notes on reporting, photography, survey and a host of other useful skills. This empowers people to be both independent and to easily access the contact details of useful groups and individuals that they may need to take a project from an idea to a reality.
Alongside this the Council for Scottish Archaeology (CSA) has an adopt-a-monument officer, Helen Bradley, who provides practical advice and training to volunteer groups to improve the condition accessibility and even interpretation of a site that they chose. I like to see Helen as a Finds Liaison Officer for sites, and personally believe that there should not be just one but ten such officers across Scotland, to support local people who care about their own local archaeology.
In Perth & Kinross, the ceaseless work of the Heritage Trust has turned an archaeology week in 2003 into an archaeology month, due to increased popularity and demand with many local and national organisations now joining to create an international event in a local scale, and includes excavations at several sites across the county with many volunteer opportunities available.
In my own county, and taking the view that this is a local project for local people we have the Prestongrange project, with a large waiting list of people looking to participate in a remarkable venture that ranges from excavation of industrial remains through to oral history and educational spin-offs. It may not make the national headlines, but the dedication of both the professional archaeologists and volunteers makes this a special event for the people of Prestonpans.
The point I'm trying to make, is that there is a lot going on and that there are resources available. Some events and projects are known across the country, while others are designed to be local events - and to suggest there is somehow a link between commercial archaeology and public archaeology and that the former is somehow impacting upon the latter is nonsense.
What is clear, is a need for public archaeology, and a need for easily accessible information on who to talk to, how to carry out the work, where to get funding from, who to get help from, how to report?. etc and rather than attacking county archaeologists, we should be looking at the real causes such as lack of funding for HERs and a reliance on goodwill to get projects going, the article took potshots at the wrong people, but it does make us confront what is happening and how we can make it more accessible.
A simple Guide to starting a project would be a first step, and the first step all should take, is contacting the local council archaeologist, who can inform the group about possibilities and available resources. Perhaps we should also be asking the people what they want, and contact local groups across the UK to ask opinions. Public Archaeology is essential for the continued support of the community as a whole for archaeology in general, if anything, although wide of the mark in some respects, this article focused our attention on what is an important subject.
Scotland?s Rural Past: http://www.scotlandsruralpast.org.uk/
Adopt a Monument: http://www.scottisharchaeology.org.uk/pr...adopt.html
Shorewatch http://www.scapetrust.org/html/shorewatch.html
Perth & Kinross Heritage Trust: http://www.pkht.org.uk/Events.asp?id=7
Prestongrange Community Archaeological Project http://www.prestongrange.org/pcap/
"No job worth doing was ever done on time or under budget.."
Khufu
This one was written to reply to the Opinion in Current Archaeology 213 - concerning how Community Archaeology is not being supported by Curatorial Staff...
It was with great interest that I read the article in current archaeology 213 last month on ?Community archaeology-against the odds?.
As a development control archaeologist working within a council I was not surprised at the initial reaction to the opinions of the authors. There was anger at what was seen to be an ill-informed point of view with sweeping generalisations and a somewhat vague grasp on contract archaeology. Suggesting that ?..most excavations were very small evaluation trenches dug by hand to a shallow depth and that is the primary objective was a collection of artefacts rather than features..?, which was, to say the least, baffling.
I expect that there will be a number of replies from curators and contractors letting off steam, in the general direction of this article. Many will say that there is a great deal of archaeology taking place within the community, and that they can name several projects in the area, they may also say that the authors only had to ask to find out what was going on around the UK.
Curators are singled out as providing little support to local groups, however they are inhibited by budgetary constraints on time and resources.
From a certain angle however the authors are right, there is a lack of easily accessible guides and templates to enable local groups to begin, and I stress begin, an archaeological project.
They do exist, and in Scotland we are in some ways blessed by what could be described as a template for just such a requirement.
Scotland's Rural Past is an exemplar five year project which supports local committees across Scotland to investigate deserted rural settlements. The website provides a portal from dozens of project groups to communicate and access essential information, including templates and recording, notes on reporting, photography, survey and a host of other useful skills. This empowers people to be both independent and to easily access the contact details of useful groups and individuals that they may need to take a project from an idea to a reality.
Alongside this the Council for Scottish Archaeology (CSA) has an adopt-a-monument officer, Helen Bradley, who provides practical advice and training to volunteer groups to improve the condition accessibility and even interpretation of a site that they chose. I like to see Helen as a Finds Liaison Officer for sites, and personally believe that there should not be just one but ten such officers across Scotland, to support local people who care about their own local archaeology.
In Perth & Kinross, the ceaseless work of the Heritage Trust has turned an archaeology week in 2003 into an archaeology month, due to increased popularity and demand with many local and national organisations now joining to create an international event in a local scale, and includes excavations at several sites across the county with many volunteer opportunities available.
In my own county, and taking the view that this is a local project for local people we have the Prestongrange project, with a large waiting list of people looking to participate in a remarkable venture that ranges from excavation of industrial remains through to oral history and educational spin-offs. It may not make the national headlines, but the dedication of both the professional archaeologists and volunteers makes this a special event for the people of Prestonpans.
The point I'm trying to make, is that there is a lot going on and that there are resources available. Some events and projects are known across the country, while others are designed to be local events - and to suggest there is somehow a link between commercial archaeology and public archaeology and that the former is somehow impacting upon the latter is nonsense.
What is clear, is a need for public archaeology, and a need for easily accessible information on who to talk to, how to carry out the work, where to get funding from, who to get help from, how to report?. etc and rather than attacking county archaeologists, we should be looking at the real causes such as lack of funding for HERs and a reliance on goodwill to get projects going, the article took potshots at the wrong people, but it does make us confront what is happening and how we can make it more accessible.
A simple Guide to starting a project would be a first step, and the first step all should take, is contacting the local council archaeologist, who can inform the group about possibilities and available resources. Perhaps we should also be asking the people what they want, and contact local groups across the UK to ask opinions. Public Archaeology is essential for the continued support of the community as a whole for archaeology in general, if anything, although wide of the mark in some respects, this article focused our attention on what is an important subject.
Scotland?s Rural Past: http://www.scotlandsruralpast.org.uk/
Adopt a Monument: http://www.scottisharchaeology.org.uk/pr...adopt.html
Shorewatch http://www.scapetrust.org/html/shorewatch.html
Perth & Kinross Heritage Trust: http://www.pkht.org.uk/Events.asp?id=7
Prestongrange Community Archaeological Project http://www.prestongrange.org/pcap/
"No job worth doing was ever done on time or under budget.."
Khufu
For really I think that the poorest he that is in England hath a life to live, as the greatest he
Thomas Rainborough 1647
Thomas Rainborough 1647
