25th January 2005, 11:45 AM
Site archives, including of course all recovered artefacts, must be accessible. That is the point of recovering them. If they are made inaccessible, they might as well be buried again - or better still, not dug up in the first place. The archive should also be kept together - context is all important in all senses of the word. The relevance of an artefact might be its duplication. It could be dangerous and misleading to seperate the artifacts from a site or a context. When does a pot become a broken pot, and when does a broke pot become an assemblage of sherds?
There should not normally be any problem with obtaining access to a museum or other repository. On the contrary, I have found museum staff to be some of the nicest friendliest and most helpful people I have ever met, they have gone well out of their way to assist me in my studies, and fished out all sorts of items from store for me to examine (including some quite well known names). Others have sent me slides, drawings, and other information - including one professor from the Uni of Lund, Sweden (excuse a bit of name dropping!). Obviously you have to ask well in advance, pref in writing or by email, and establish your bona fides. Maybe they misunderstood when they heard you were a metal detectorist? Obviously (and sadly) that is a sensitive issue.
As for one centre per county, maybe it should depend on the size of the county and the amount of development taking place there. Say one for the west country, one for Yorkshore, one for the north west and so on?
There should not normally be any problem with obtaining access to a museum or other repository. On the contrary, I have found museum staff to be some of the nicest friendliest and most helpful people I have ever met, they have gone well out of their way to assist me in my studies, and fished out all sorts of items from store for me to examine (including some quite well known names). Others have sent me slides, drawings, and other information - including one professor from the Uni of Lund, Sweden (excuse a bit of name dropping!). Obviously you have to ask well in advance, pref in writing or by email, and establish your bona fides. Maybe they misunderstood when they heard you were a metal detectorist? Obviously (and sadly) that is a sensitive issue.
As for one centre per county, maybe it should depend on the size of the county and the amount of development taking place there. Say one for the west country, one for Yorkshore, one for the north west and so on?