25th June 2011, 04:50 PM
Marcus Brody Wrote:....A course that equipped students purely to work in commercial archaeology would probably be very narrowly-focused, dealing with stratigraphy, dating techniques, finds identification etc, and would probably be largely practical- rather than lecture-based - not necessarily a bad thing, but unlikely to meet the standards required for the award of a degree. It would also probably include a large section dealing with contracts, health-and-safety, the planning system and legal issues. Again, not a bad idea in itself, but unlikely to appeal to anyone who's interested in archaeology but who doesn't want to pursue a career in the commercial sector....
To do my job properly as a commercial field archaeologist I have to keep track of all the b*llocks that the academics keep spouting, so that I can bias the limited interventions I'm committing/am allowed to commit in order to supply data for their research agendas. Just common courtesy for this to be reciprocated?
!...although I do dearly love writing that immortal phrase 'contra so-and-so 1998 (or whenever)'....}
