1st June 2004, 07:22 PM
Not controversial at all.
A watching brief where the remains are not adequately excavated or recorded suits no one. It is always better to evaluate first or excavate rather have a watching brief. Funnily enough most contractors will say watching briefs are fine - the archaeologists turn up do their thing and don't hold us up. In a sense this is the point I am making, if archaeologists so rarely hold up a development because nothing is found, what is the point of them? A watching brief as a cheap way of excavating something is really just that - an inadequate excavation.
Peter
A watching brief where the remains are not adequately excavated or recorded suits no one. It is always better to evaluate first or excavate rather have a watching brief. Funnily enough most contractors will say watching briefs are fine - the archaeologists turn up do their thing and don't hold us up. In a sense this is the point I am making, if archaeologists so rarely hold up a development because nothing is found, what is the point of them? A watching brief as a cheap way of excavating something is really just that - an inadequate excavation.
Peter