11th February 2007, 04:35 PM
Quote:quote:Originally posted by sarahlouise
Great comments - the whole paid/unpaid comments seems to be based on the fact that volunteers would be people who eventually wanted to get paid (e.g students). But there are people who just want to do it for fun (mad that they are) and may built up alot of experience but are not interested in it as a job. I think that sometimes it can be all too easy to see these people as an alternatives to staff which I agree with all is highly unethical.
I think it's that split between those who want to acrue valuable excavation experience and those who just want to do it for enjoyment is often where it can get a little acrimonious at times.Probably not helped by the rather misleading views perpetrated by certain popular archaeological publications..*ahem*
I have absolutely no objection to people doing archaeology purely for enjoyment (I think I did it once!
) but I get slightly irritated by the toys-being-thrown-out-of-pram kind of reaction that comes from some volunteers,implying that we're all rather relieved that they aren't on site, getting in our way.Ideal situation is very probably that of Mr Hosty's, vollies acting as a suppliment to, rather then a replacement for professional staff.