2nd February 2011, 02:29 PM
kevin wooldridge Wrote:I agree and that will always be the case (Old dogs - new tricks etc), but one of the great advantages of modern survey equipment is it's efficiency, not least that in most cases it allows a job previously reliant on two or more persons (surveyor and stick boy, chain girl, pole holder whatever you called it) to be done by one. And the post field processing from data download to finished map or database is infinitely faster and more accurate. And (I think we had this discussion before) costs of either purchase or hire are not prohibitive .... I think we estimated per week hire charges in the UK roughly equal to the cost of employing one field assistant....
Quite right, there is the need to adapt and keep pace with the changing nature of collecting archaeological data. As I mentioned sometimes there is failure, operator or equipment and you have to be able to crack on. It doesn't hurt to be familiar with the "older" methods. Not all small units, I'm only refering to the units I've worked with, will employ someone to carry out an electronic or digital survey, for whatever their reasoning. If your the person on the ground (i.e. on site) the data still needs collecting.
A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort.