24th August 2004, 11:27 AM
Don't really agree with the idea that people work as hard as they think they ought given their level of pay. People have to prove their worthiness in the field before advancing upwards to better payed and more responsible positions. Most jobs pay pretty poorly at the lowest level and archaeology is no different. It's up to the individual to prove that hey can learn at the lower level and show themselves worthy of promotion. "Pay me more and I'll work harder" - crap. People just don't.
I don't think people enter in to field archaeology with their eyes closed. They are mostly fuly aware that pay scales are poor at excavator level. In fact they are poor up to management level. Our 40-somethings at our place who run our unit are all on 21-22.5k. Compare that with average wage earners of the same age. It ain't good. You could argue that managers shouldn't try either, along with everyone in between them and the diggers.
[:o)]
I don't think people enter in to field archaeology with their eyes closed. They are mostly fuly aware that pay scales are poor at excavator level. In fact they are poor up to management level. Our 40-somethings at our place who run our unit are all on 21-22.5k. Compare that with average wage earners of the same age. It ain't good. You could argue that managers shouldn't try either, along with everyone in between them and the diggers.
[:o)]