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3rd February 2007, 06:45 PM
This is one primarily offered for comment by curators/Project managers/consultants but I would be extremely grateful if anyone else would care to comment.
In this imaginary scenario, a farmer "discovers" that he has a complete Bronze Age bowl barrow on his land.Its close to 20 metres across, has an encircling ditch, is kerbed all the way around and the entire mound is covered in stone.Mr farmer decides that he needs to build something in the spot that the barrow occupies and therefore, complete removal of the barrow will be needed.Mr Farmer then asks nice archaeologists for some advice, a project design/method statement and, just how long it will take and how many field staff it will need.
So here`s the game....how long? How many field staff? In precis form-just how would you do it? Cost is irrelevent in this scenario although we should assume that the process will take place in a commercial environment. As a final bit....what, if anything should be the role of English Heritage in this process? No trick questions guys, am just interested thats all......
:face-huh:
..knowledge without action is insanity and action without knowledge is vanity..(imam ghazali,ayyuhal-walad)
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3rd February 2007, 07:43 PM
Refusal of application.
Known site... complicated site to excavate without serious work.
As you say that money is no object..
hmmmm.. still refusal.. it would have to be a pretty good reason to tak out a bronze age barrow for a farm building.
say though there is no other option... er...
big bucks, with a need for sampling, and careful excation over a number of seasons
"No job worth doing was ever done on time or under budget.."
Khufu
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3rd February 2007, 07:59 PM
In England
Permission not needed for most agri buildings.
I assume said barrow not scheduled. If planning permission needed then unlikely that application can be refused unless the preservation is exceptional or it has a group value or is of an unusual type.
The key piece of infomation is how tall is the monument - a good indicator of preservation. Also needed to cost project.
At 20 m across its a bit big for a bowl barrow.
At this stage I bid 2k for a desk top and a topo survey after which it may be possible to give more precise costs. Careful excavation over a number of seasons and mega cost definately not.
No EH involvement neccessary
Peter
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3rd February 2007, 08:22 PM
Sorry to be a killjoy (and possibly do you all out of some work[:p]), but English Heritage's role here would probably be to schedule this site. I would imagine that it certainly fits all the criteria necessary for this to happen, and would be rushed through given the imminent threat. So, no digging today folks.
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3rd February 2007, 08:28 PM
Oh, and:
Quote:quote:Bowl barrows are typically between about 3m and 40m in diameter, from 0.3m to over 6m high
Snippet from the EH Monuments Protection Programme gazetteer entry for bowl barrows. Also the description given implies that this is a relatively intact example. I can think of at least one scheduled single bowl barrow of a similar size on my curatorial patch.
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3rd February 2007, 10:42 PM
Thank you everyone so far.How would your views alter if the barrow found itself on the route of say, a pipeline, road scheme or even a new airport runway? I accept Dr Wardles view that the height of the barrow would have some significance in his calculations so- lets say that it survives to a height of a maximum of three metres.:face-huh:I`m trying to tease out just how (as individuals from differing angles) you would approach this hypothetical project.For example, if I was a project manager of a commercial unit and tendered on the basis of say, four diggers/one supervisor and completion in four weeks-how would you as curator/consultant react/respond? If a justification could be found that meant the barrow had to be completely removed, just how would you do it?
..knowledge without action is insanity and action without knowledge is vanity..(imam ghazali,ayyuhal-walad)
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3rd February 2007, 11:19 PM
hmmm. Its interesting that we are now being asked to comment on a very specific timetable for the work and specific staffing levels. Is this still a hypothetical situation?
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4th February 2007, 12:07 AM
Hmmm... What happened to preservation in situ for nationally important sites? Well, that aside it's not so much the timescales and staffing levels that are an immediate curatorial concern although clearly there are tolerances within these. Clearly a project can be overstaffed to the point where people are tripping over each other! Which would be counterproductive. The important considerations are the qualifications/experience of the team and the quality of the agreed scheme of investigation. Still a four man team was obviously adequate for the good general:
http://www.salisburymuseum.org.uk/galler...oprevID=10
Alternatively you could look here:
http://www.eng-h.gov.uk/archcom/projects...cc2105.htm But please note the circumstances!
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4th February 2007, 12:35 AM
What would you do if the barrow contained an active badger sett?
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4th February 2007, 10:31 AM
Assuming that cost has no limit on this exercise, I'd be tempted to try a mixture of the old days 'Chronicle' and the modern day 'Big Brother, approach to filming such a project. Potential for significant finds seem good thus justifying the exercise as an antidote to the '3-day rash' factor of Time Team, but also the opportunity to examine the dynamic of the digging team both on and off site might offer a less often seen side of archaeology. No voting off the soil scientist in week 2 though...
I am guessing that after factoring in the geofizz team, the various artefact and exofact specialists, surveyors, illustrators, diggers, management types, photographers, film crew, support services, I might be looking at a team of 40-50 people!! And why not make the 'digging' last a summer season (Easter to September), at least 26 weeks.
