29th December 2005, 10:57 AM
'The ones that I can't ignore are the part time army of volunteers!
They really do spoil all the good work done by the proffesionals!!'
It certainly wasn't my intention to criticise volunteers too fiercely - there are a lot out there that do some good work, although there are others that have seen a couple of episodes of Time Team and think they know everything, which is a bit insulting to people who've spent years 'in the field/trench/office'. The worst offenders that I have come across are those that actually have qualifications in archaeology but can't apparently be bothered to put any of the work in to proove themselves i.e. spend a few years doing every menial job there is in order to earn their position. Many of the ones I have come across are mature students, who clearly don't like the idea of being told what to do by people 10 years younger than them. Unfortunately, because they have the qualifications on paper, they are difficult to criticise even though they are likely to be taking on more than your average experienced supervisor would care to. I have heard it said by various people, who should know better, about cases of very poor work carried out by 'qualified' archaeologists - 'At least they've got a degree in archaeology'. I'm sure this is straying into familiar territory...
Obviously, once upon a time all archaeologists were essentially interested amateurs and there is still a place for them - especially in areas of survey that the professionals are never going to have time to touch, but its the semi-qualified ones that are doing the real damage in my experience. One of the major problems at the moment is that EH and the various lottery funds seem to value 'Community Involvement' and learning skills over and above the qualitfy of the work carried out. I'm not sure I see the point teaching a load of volunteers how to be archaeologists when most are unlikely to go into it as a profession, and it is especially galling when so little training is given to most archaeologists, be they students or in the commercial sector. Excavation especially is suppose to be the last thing you do (survival in situ anyone?) and doiig it badly is worse than not doing it all. It's a bit like teaching someone how to be a vet by killing their dog!
They really do spoil all the good work done by the proffesionals!!'
It certainly wasn't my intention to criticise volunteers too fiercely - there are a lot out there that do some good work, although there are others that have seen a couple of episodes of Time Team and think they know everything, which is a bit insulting to people who've spent years 'in the field/trench/office'. The worst offenders that I have come across are those that actually have qualifications in archaeology but can't apparently be bothered to put any of the work in to proove themselves i.e. spend a few years doing every menial job there is in order to earn their position. Many of the ones I have come across are mature students, who clearly don't like the idea of being told what to do by people 10 years younger than them. Unfortunately, because they have the qualifications on paper, they are difficult to criticise even though they are likely to be taking on more than your average experienced supervisor would care to. I have heard it said by various people, who should know better, about cases of very poor work carried out by 'qualified' archaeologists - 'At least they've got a degree in archaeology'. I'm sure this is straying into familiar territory...
Obviously, once upon a time all archaeologists were essentially interested amateurs and there is still a place for them - especially in areas of survey that the professionals are never going to have time to touch, but its the semi-qualified ones that are doing the real damage in my experience. One of the major problems at the moment is that EH and the various lottery funds seem to value 'Community Involvement' and learning skills over and above the qualitfy of the work carried out. I'm not sure I see the point teaching a load of volunteers how to be archaeologists when most are unlikely to go into it as a profession, and it is especially galling when so little training is given to most archaeologists, be they students or in the commercial sector. Excavation especially is suppose to be the last thing you do (survival in situ anyone?) and doiig it badly is worse than not doing it all. It's a bit like teaching someone how to be a vet by killing their dog!