Post Ex

[vulpes]

1man is quite right and any curator with sense would make certain of this at WSI stage - it's no good trying to add on bits later as the developer, contractor or consultant could (quite justifiably) refuse to play ball. The other problem is that as mitigation (and by extension post-ex) is often secured by planning condition - sometimes curators or planners agree to discharge this planning condition after the fieldwork. In this case although the WSI has not been completed they have effectively indicated that it has been fulfilled. The condition should not be discharged until post-ex is suitably advanced i.e. you have a funded publication report on your desk for approval.

Oh, another thing - really there is no such thing as preservation by record. It's a nonsense - once something is gone - it's gone, no matter how good your records are. E.g. the test of a true building record should be that it is in sufficient detail to enable you to exactly recreate the building. Rather - what we settle for is something that is near enough. It's just another bankrupt mantra we have our friends at EH to thank for - like preservation in situ - preservation of what? and for how long?. 'Replacement by Record' as touted by the east anglian curators is perhaps nearer the mark. WE are not preserving but destroying when we excavate - first year stuff really.

Oh, on a related note - it's also not unfeasible for the developer to change contractors mid excavation - seen it happen here.