28th April 2009, 05:53 PM
Haven't had a chance to listen to 'Making History' so can't comment on the BBC element.
I think the IfA survey is well thought out and interesting. Hopefully next quarter will see things getting a little brighter.
On your point about Community Involvement though Hosty, I think many of those types of post have been around for a while. It's just that they're standing out a bit more nowadays! And hopefully, by getting a wider viewing and not getting swallowed up in the 'unit needs 1,000 diggers now' ads, more people are considering taking them up.
I have always said, personally, that the land belongs to the landowner, but the archaeology belongs to everyone. But I also think that some amazing work has been done under the PPG16 archaeology which would never have been done without it. I've been involved with fieldwork before PPG16, on some cracking sites, and they were dug with volunteers and students on tight budgets. Most of the PPG16 digs I've been on were better dug and the outcomes were better. (For example - when the IFA was first set up, one of the biggest reasons that many 'august' archaeologists wouldn't join was that the IFA said you had to publish within 10 years) - one of my first jobs was trying to sort out the mess that was two fantastic sites which had never been written up - no funding - and the director was too busy off trashing other sites. I use the word 'trashing' not because the exacavation techniques were poor, but because if you don't write it up, there's no point having done it in the first place! In fact it's worse, because no-one else can excavate it either. I'm talking real notes on the back of fag packets being part of the archive here!
I think that the loss of many talented individuals from our profession is a terrible worry. Development will eventually pick up again, and if the commercial arms aren't there, I feel sorry for any 'community' archaeologists who need to pick up the pieces. They should be there AS WELL, not instead of.
I think the IfA survey is well thought out and interesting. Hopefully next quarter will see things getting a little brighter.
On your point about Community Involvement though Hosty, I think many of those types of post have been around for a while. It's just that they're standing out a bit more nowadays! And hopefully, by getting a wider viewing and not getting swallowed up in the 'unit needs 1,000 diggers now' ads, more people are considering taking them up.
I have always said, personally, that the land belongs to the landowner, but the archaeology belongs to everyone. But I also think that some amazing work has been done under the PPG16 archaeology which would never have been done without it. I've been involved with fieldwork before PPG16, on some cracking sites, and they were dug with volunteers and students on tight budgets. Most of the PPG16 digs I've been on were better dug and the outcomes were better. (For example - when the IFA was first set up, one of the biggest reasons that many 'august' archaeologists wouldn't join was that the IFA said you had to publish within 10 years) - one of my first jobs was trying to sort out the mess that was two fantastic sites which had never been written up - no funding - and the director was too busy off trashing other sites. I use the word 'trashing' not because the exacavation techniques were poor, but because if you don't write it up, there's no point having done it in the first place! In fact it's worse, because no-one else can excavate it either. I'm talking real notes on the back of fag packets being part of the archive here!
I think that the loss of many talented individuals from our profession is a terrible worry. Development will eventually pick up again, and if the commercial arms aren't there, I feel sorry for any 'community' archaeologists who need to pick up the pieces. They should be there AS WELL, not instead of.