Archaeology and the global crisis

[BAJR Host]

I've said many a time that you could pretty much find someone to do almost every job in archaeology for nothing, assuming you were willing to spend a lot longer doing the work. That is surely one of the main reasons it doesn't happen, the planning guidelines are there to provide a way for the archaeology to be dealt with at a realistic speed and within a larger framework that covers al sorts of broadly environmental factors.

I think this is an absolutely crucial point one that perhaps if we understand and expand on, we can then become more at ease of who we are, what we do and what we wish to become.

As you say later

People who have the choice would be far better off sticking to sites that might actually add to our knowledge!

and this sums it up. An amateur group or person (like myself now) who carries out archaeology ON archaeology specifically to excavate, survey or record actual known archaeology - ie I will excavate a number of hill forts to look at chronology across a group of 20 in my area... OR a commercial archaeologist who will be on hand to mitigate or previously evaluate to ensure the development in that area is not affected by the potential for archaeology, therefore I cannot decide where I will dig as this has been decided by other factors outwith my control (the Regional Frameworks are a brave attempt at a compromise situation)

IF we accept the premise that digging archaeology and digging commercial archaeology are fundamentally different, can me create a situation where the blurring of purpose is no more.

I recently talked to a curator who said it was 'easy' in their area as the site density was such that any development would have archaeology, while in my case in the wilds of midlothian, as a development control asst. archaeologist it felt more like blindfolded darts! My problem was not the known archaeology, that people seldomn looked a (apart from local groups) it was the vast swathes of nothing known. And here it took the special talents you describe to be able to deal with this. There is where our uniqueness comes in, and therefore should we play to that? or play to the blurred boundaries.

I am just off to try and locate data on number of planning apps / number of archaeology conditions / number of actual discoveries.