23rd May 2007, 02:07 PM
Many government agencies (MoD, Forestry etc)and infrastructure companies (water companies etc)already employ their own archaeologists, either to act as in house consultants or to project manage, so if any compant has sufficient work to justify an appointment I think thats fair enough as long as they are monitored by curators in the same way as every one else. I see no reason why this wouldn't be the case. And remember for excavation and post-excavation purposes they will still have to out source alot of work. However it is a concern for the long term future that such out sourcing could replace units with a series of free lance specialists or technicians (finds, reports, excavation)employed directly by developers/companies. Its an extreme idea but possibly something to be considered. In the mean time I think the only concern might be how the use of internal archaeologists (as being sought after here) may impact on impartiality (curators pat attention) and on what archaeological units are paid for- tenders may get lower if some tasks are completed internally.
I think we must give it a chance but treat with caution:face-huh::face-huh:
I think we must give it a chance but treat with caution:face-huh::face-huh: