17th May 2006, 01:53 PM
from Steve Walsh:
There is a lot that an archaeologist with limited field experience can do if they are in a subordinate role in a consultancy team - but they do need to get more field experience before they take a lead role on the archaeology.
My own view is that no archaeologist in any branch of the profession (curators included) should be put in a leadership role (by which I mean one in which they are the person principally responsible for making archaeological judgements in relation to a site or project) without first having a significant degree of field experience, including project planning and reporting.
At the same time, field experience is not the be-all and end-all. I have seen some spectacularly bad pieces of consultancy work done by people that I knew were good field archaeologists, but who had no idea about the basic principles of EIA or other wider consultancy work.
1man1desk
to let, fully furnished
Quote:quote:I am ready to be shot down here but i reckon you can be a experienced field archaeologist without much knowledge of the Environmental Statements and planning process but you cannot work as a consultant without being experienced in the field unless your remit is so tight and your organisation is so big that it can afford to have people doing very narrow job descriptions ie just baseline gathering etc. I suspect in reality most archaeological consultants need to do a bit of everyting therefore they need a field background - and not just 3 months volunteeringSpeaking as a consultant, I do agree with you, but with some reservations.
There is a lot that an archaeologist with limited field experience can do if they are in a subordinate role in a consultancy team - but they do need to get more field experience before they take a lead role on the archaeology.
My own view is that no archaeologist in any branch of the profession (curators included) should be put in a leadership role (by which I mean one in which they are the person principally responsible for making archaeological judgements in relation to a site or project) without first having a significant degree of field experience, including project planning and reporting.
At the same time, field experience is not the be-all and end-all. I have seen some spectacularly bad pieces of consultancy work done by people that I knew were good field archaeologists, but who had no idea about the basic principles of EIA or other wider consultancy work.
1man1desk
to let, fully furnished