13th February 2007, 11:27 PM
posted by beamo:
'I don't really understand why we do not apply the same ideas to small sites - perhaps you are right in that here the total bill does not look too bad even if we excavate everything in detail, so we just do it anyway - if so then this does not reflect very well on the profession and perhaps we should be considering this issue more carefully.'
Site size in commercial archaeology (as I am sure we are all aware) does not always bear any relation to the size of the actual scope of the archaeology of the area being developed. A small site may therefore have a limited view of the landscape, requiring more excavation work to understand things that are more obvious when a larger area is opened up. This may account for some (but obviously not all) of the cases you refer to. :face-huh:
don't panic!
'I don't really understand why we do not apply the same ideas to small sites - perhaps you are right in that here the total bill does not look too bad even if we excavate everything in detail, so we just do it anyway - if so then this does not reflect very well on the profession and perhaps we should be considering this issue more carefully.'
Site size in commercial archaeology (as I am sure we are all aware) does not always bear any relation to the size of the actual scope of the archaeology of the area being developed. A small site may therefore have a limited view of the landscape, requiring more excavation work to understand things that are more obvious when a larger area is opened up. This may account for some (but obviously not all) of the cases you refer to. :face-huh:
don't panic!