29th November 2010, 10:51 AM
(This post was last modified: 29th November 2010, 10:53 AM by Madweasels.)
My work takes me between many of the sectors in our discipline, and never have I seen morale so low. It was bad enough seeing the effects of the banking crisis/recession on the commercial units, but now the awareness of recent coalition policies are - as we all know - stunning us into a state of rigid fright. But we must stay positive where ever possible. We must stay focused - if not for the sake of the nation's heritage but then for the sake of our own self-esteems. If it does all goes totally pear-shaped, don't let it be because we didn't do anything about it. Like it or not, pompous or not, we collectively ARE the custodians of the country's archaeology. Yes, we are all trying to eek out a living while working with archaeology, but tell me - if we were all sacked tomorrow would you all cease to be 'archaeologists'? Of course not.
We are being led at the moment by a bunch of ideological philistines. Their mantras are that we are to do more with less, that front line services are to be protected. That last phrase is one to focus upon - in time the 'are to be' will be replaced with 'should' and then with 'every attempt will be made to protect'. That is a forerunner, in my experience, of 'the need to prioritise front line services' and then we get into that game - how do we prioritise archaeology in today's society. Well, we might not be able to with the Coalition. They may just not be interested - but a few million viewers of progs like Time Team (like them or loathe them - the progs that is, not the viewers) can't be wrong. Question - how do we engage them? Perhaps we could do with a bit of payback from the producers of Time Team, who did quite handsomely, I believe over the last decade or so with a lot of cheap or free help from us lot. A programme championing the role of archaeology in the UK would not go amiss - especially on prime time TV under the banner of a Time Team title.
Anyway, don't want to be too down, but we are being hit - but let;s prepare for the next one. Why prioritise archaeology!
We are being led at the moment by a bunch of ideological philistines. Their mantras are that we are to do more with less, that front line services are to be protected. That last phrase is one to focus upon - in time the 'are to be' will be replaced with 'should' and then with 'every attempt will be made to protect'. That is a forerunner, in my experience, of 'the need to prioritise front line services' and then we get into that game - how do we prioritise archaeology in today's society. Well, we might not be able to with the Coalition. They may just not be interested - but a few million viewers of progs like Time Team (like them or loathe them - the progs that is, not the viewers) can't be wrong. Question - how do we engage them? Perhaps we could do with a bit of payback from the producers of Time Team, who did quite handsomely, I believe over the last decade or so with a lot of cheap or free help from us lot. A programme championing the role of archaeology in the UK would not go amiss - especially on prime time TV under the banner of a Time Team title.
Anyway, don't want to be too down, but we are being hit - but let;s prepare for the next one. Why prioritise archaeology!