11th May 2005, 11:40 AM
It's actually almost impossible to stop anyone doing archaeology on private land - however badly they are doing it. It would help if the Government and English Heritage had a proper look at the Valletta Convention that was signed a couple of years ago, and implemented some of the stuff that's in there properly (Article 3 in particular). It would be nice to have some teeth!
Luckily for me, when TT wanted to vist this area they found it was too boring for the TV. I dread the day when they may be back though. What I hated was The Big Dig, which was organised really badly and just perpetuated the idea that anyone with a shovel is qualified to dig up archaeology any way they fancy just to have a bit of a laugh. I didn't spot TT following any of the work up later to make sure details were submitted to the SMR either. In effect, TT project managed a whole load of archaeological interventions that weekend and abdicated completely from the responsibility of reporting them.
Luckily for me, when TT wanted to vist this area they found it was too boring for the TV. I dread the day when they may be back though. What I hated was The Big Dig, which was organised really badly and just perpetuated the idea that anyone with a shovel is qualified to dig up archaeology any way they fancy just to have a bit of a laugh. I didn't spot TT following any of the work up later to make sure details were submitted to the SMR either. In effect, TT project managed a whole load of archaeological interventions that weekend and abdicated completely from the responsibility of reporting them.