16th May 2009, 12:53 PM
In fairness, as an update, and as a way of mitigating my somewhat dramatic Wintertime query of whether or not this 'is the end' of large scale commercial excavations for some time I am now pleased to say i was wrong. It seems that just because jobs are not always advertised doesn't mean they are not there. Just takes a bit more ringing around and listening to those site hut rumours that so often become gold.
However , while i am on the matter of 'the end' of commercial archaeology i think i may use this forum as a cathartic tool.
i have been digging for a few years in commercial archaeology all over the British Isles. I readily up-sticks and move on a momments notice to some andom town near the job, sometimes the company pays...sometimes i do. Obviously there are lots of sacrifices as archaeologists that we make on behalf of our chosen career but this has never bothered me too much as the rewards have often been worth the inconvenience. Yet, something has changed in the way i now feel about archaeology...too often i have seen the needs of the common worker ignored (for a great example see Paul Everills The Invisible Digger). Sub standard welfare facilities often with no heating, and sometimes no shelter and no toilets (i felt ashamed on one occasion when i had to watch my girlfriend wander across 100m of scrub to find a bush to use a toilet and could do nothing to help her),having to shar eating facilities with dirty barrows and equipment, individual diggers putting themselves at risk on sites where despite treacherous working conditions (icy quarry edges, no duck boards and numerous trips, slips and falls) they still have to abide by the hateful expression 'show willing' and brave dangerous elements due to a fear of losing there jobs due to their fragile employment status as a temporary worker. Archaeologists being asked for more and more qualfications or skills (CSCS, EUSR, IFA) but precious little actual training, pay increases or aid from the companies employing them. Often training is an individual concern that only the most conscientious over worked supervisor or friendly colleague can help with. Not part of a formal trainng regimen. Holiday pay being removed or brushed aside and coined by companies as time-off-in-lieu and then refusing to allow employees to take time off.
I have seen skeletons excavated and then dumped unceremoniously in cabins inside finds bags too small to fint them. Blatant archaeological features destroyed by plant owing to constant developer harrasment ( i can understand their sentiments but the archaeology should not have to pay).
I often see my archaeological friends finally become so exasperated they just throw in the towel and leave to go and get a 'proper job'. But its ok because there are always 'new grads', who often have little to no idea about the practicalities of digging as archaeology degrees seem unable to prepare students for the reality of commercial digging. So effectively an experience brain drain afflicts the archaeological community and again the archaeology suffers.
I know this all seems so negative and i do love our jobs (although not all prehistory
), I just wish i could think of a way of improving working conditions, professional standards and archaeological accountabilty.
I have been showing 'willing' for a few years and would love to know that there are others out there to do the same and champion the cause of the humble site assistant
However , while i am on the matter of 'the end' of commercial archaeology i think i may use this forum as a cathartic tool.
i have been digging for a few years in commercial archaeology all over the British Isles. I readily up-sticks and move on a momments notice to some andom town near the job, sometimes the company pays...sometimes i do. Obviously there are lots of sacrifices as archaeologists that we make on behalf of our chosen career but this has never bothered me too much as the rewards have often been worth the inconvenience. Yet, something has changed in the way i now feel about archaeology...too often i have seen the needs of the common worker ignored (for a great example see Paul Everills The Invisible Digger). Sub standard welfare facilities often with no heating, and sometimes no shelter and no toilets (i felt ashamed on one occasion when i had to watch my girlfriend wander across 100m of scrub to find a bush to use a toilet and could do nothing to help her),having to shar eating facilities with dirty barrows and equipment, individual diggers putting themselves at risk on sites where despite treacherous working conditions (icy quarry edges, no duck boards and numerous trips, slips and falls) they still have to abide by the hateful expression 'show willing' and brave dangerous elements due to a fear of losing there jobs due to their fragile employment status as a temporary worker. Archaeologists being asked for more and more qualfications or skills (CSCS, EUSR, IFA) but precious little actual training, pay increases or aid from the companies employing them. Often training is an individual concern that only the most conscientious over worked supervisor or friendly colleague can help with. Not part of a formal trainng regimen. Holiday pay being removed or brushed aside and coined by companies as time-off-in-lieu and then refusing to allow employees to take time off.
I have seen skeletons excavated and then dumped unceremoniously in cabins inside finds bags too small to fint them. Blatant archaeological features destroyed by plant owing to constant developer harrasment ( i can understand their sentiments but the archaeology should not have to pay).
I often see my archaeological friends finally become so exasperated they just throw in the towel and leave to go and get a 'proper job'. But its ok because there are always 'new grads', who often have little to no idea about the practicalities of digging as archaeology degrees seem unable to prepare students for the reality of commercial digging. So effectively an experience brain drain afflicts the archaeological community and again the archaeology suffers.
I know this all seems so negative and i do love our jobs (although not all prehistory
), I just wish i could think of a way of improving working conditions, professional standards and archaeological accountabilty. I have been showing 'willing' for a few years and would love to know that there are others out there to do the same and champion the cause of the humble site assistant