The Key Points from the RESCUE Open Meeting to discuss 'Mortimer' on Sat 02 April

[BAJR]

Ah.. I understand. Nobody did indeed vote for this

[Boxoffrogs]

I thank you!

[Hayley]

Agreed we need to raise the profile of archaeology but do we really need to do so to the general public?

I think you've missed the point, we need public support more than ever, yes they know what archaeology is, but do they actually know what we do on a day to day basis? Do they understand the planning system? Do they understand what is at risk? I don't think many do.

ps, I did vote Lib dem in the hope for some kind of moderating force :face-stir:

[BAJR]

I should also say I have completely forgotten to thank those that went and reported about what happened there, without their efort, then this discussion would not be talking place. So Thanks you

[GPStone]

A pleasure, and it was nice to have a chat with Moreno!

I'd like to make a point to everyone who's arguing over the name.

Firstly, if you've got a better one then I'm sure the people currently involved in this would be interested to hear it. But that's not the key point for those of us working in and wanting to support commercial archaeology. The key point is that under the current political system and under the current circumstances, we're about as close to an irrelevance as you can be while still breathing. The cuts that are being made right now (those which at this very minute are leading to heritage and curatorial services being wound up and are being conducted in place of infrastructure development and are thus costing commercial units business and the rest of us jobs) and the various policy and beaurocratic systems which are being altered to back them up only pay heed to those parties who can demonstrate significant public support/demand and shout loudest about it. `

There are two questions we need to ask ourselves and each other:

Are we prepared to put ourselves out there, engage with and so generate public support?
How can we then shout about it and get the message out there?

The name doesn't make the slightest difference if we don't do those two things. And commercial archaeology doesn't really matter that much in the process of building up the profile of archaeology and heritage unless we get stuck in and make it matter. I think we all need to stop wandering around moaning about relevant but currently unsolvable issues (keep the pressure up, of course, but lets look at the bigger picture) and be prepared to put ourselves on the line and make what we do matter to the majority of people. I have concerns about some of the details to do with the 'MORTIMER' (or whatever anyone wants to call it) campaign, but the central tennet of it is that its up to you/us/anyone who's interested to form the agenda, do the legwork and perhaps we can reap a reward from it in our own professional aspirations and job security.

Its no good fussing and arguing over tiny irrelevances here when ultimately its down to us to get off our backsides and sort it out. And if you/I/we don't like the idea, nobody does this or anything else to the same effect and we end up with no part in the planning process, no curatorial archaeologists and very limited operational capacity for the commercial sector (i.e. most of us will be unemployed or doing something else), then its us who will have failed to take a hold of the opportunity.

The current difficulties and possible political onslaught to heritage might be unwarrented and undemocratic, but ultimately they can do what the like, regardless of whether we end up on the dole. What it does represent is an opportunity and a motivation for all of us to pick ourselves up, shake the last twenty years of festering crap off of our backs and start rebuilding this profession from the bottom up. We can give ourselves and our work some direct value to the people who ultimately end up paying for US in taxes and utility bills and yet can't quite see why they should have to fork out another few hundred quid or more to do some very interesting but, to them, not wholly necessary archaeology when they want to build the extension they've been saving up for the last twenty years to build (or somesuch other civil-sounding nonsense).

Love and peace,
GPS! xx(

[Unitof1]

[SIZE=3]The key point is that under the current political system and under the current circumstances, we're about as close to an irrelevance as you can be while still breathing.
[/SIZE]

I would like to take a fence to this statement on behalf of my client who I picked up today. Are you saying that they did not need me? If it is true, please dont tell them

[BAJR]

Stay on topic or posts will be removed

[Unitof1]

I think that this is on topic. There is a predominace on a lot of these threads that the end has arrive for archaeology. I am still picking up work from clients who appear to think that they need an archaeologist. There might not be as many jobs as there used to be but that is purely down to the fact that for about ten years the bloody bankers and the labour party funded through fraud a massive building bubble. I remenber atime when archaeology was pretty seasonal. It might be getting back to that. Its not my fault that universities have been churning out thousands of archaeologists for whom there is no work nor is it my fault that many people who worked in archaeology did not realise that it is a finite resource.

it is also very difficult to differentiat between a spesific or holistic responce to any topic in archaeology let alone field archaeology

[GnomeKing]

I would have liked to have shown support at the meeting, but could not make it.

Good work Everybody - keep it up!

I think the public is actually fairly open to the concept of archaeology and local history. Indeed I take the ability to enthuse people about heritage (The Big Concept) as fundamental to calling myself an archaeologist.

If we are failing to connect then i lay some blame at the feet of business managers, Yupies and Commercial Recruitment, and mourn the diminishing of free thinking, fringe and alternative outlooks........

What the Public do not know is how the process works and how changes to planning polices and funding Cut...what actually happens, how much it costs...and all too often what the consequences and results are (expecting active participants in archaeological societies and so on). We must persuade Them to support Us in pressuring Our 'Professional' Bodies to ultimately take firm stances at governmental levels.
And of course, to protect their own Local Heritage when it is under threat, with more direct means and actions.

In this regard INFORMATION must be our weapon - and here Commercial Operations may cause problems...I might want to argue that my local unit is damaging a site purely because they are massively under budgeted - but how to get that information, how to vet it and where to put it?
I think we are going to need some kind of semi-formal information sharing - and this might be somewhat subversive from some perspectives...So What?Bite Me......we can certainly step up the 'info war' here.


And - We must persuade the public that they benefit from Our Expertise, not just the archaeology itself...

To quote a Legend "your past is my past"

We are not Temporal Waste Contamination Removers...We are real intermediaries to the ancestors, and I personally consider some aspects truly shamanistic, part of a line of physical connection to the deep past. At our best, this is what we can be...and only a fool could not see the inherent power therein.

We must also remember deep and enduring Truths, about Time, our Ancestors and what we are now....
We must individually Meditate, Deeply and Sincerely, upon these fundamentals, before we can purport our selves to society and the public with anything approaching credibility.

We must look at the world as it was, as it could be - and as it is NOW. The Pain and Joy of the World must be reconciled within our own lives - failure to do so prevents authentic action in any sphere of life.

Archaeology may not be the most pressing concern in our lives, or for society. Failure to accept that will only result in Archaeologists who are skewed from Reality - inauthentic and unable to connect with the social wave.

Heritage, Connection and Belonging are deep Spiritual topics - our species is hard-wired to seek and respond to these cues - we react emotionally and bodily to them - this is the passion that has driven archaeologists

There is no slogan or campaign message here - but something more important...

[P Prentice]

belonging, expertise and information - three salient words Gnome and to take up your point about 'the most pressing concern in our lives' we might want to consider why we would let anybody steal our past?

loveHeritage