6th July 2011, 12:18 PM
I think this is an interesting one and whilst I havent thought long enough to offer a very compehensive answer a coupl of things spring to mind.
Firstly, I really hope there is an economic upturn. If field archaeology stays development-led then people coming fresh into the profession really will need lots of development to get a similar experience to, for example, myslef 10 years ago. By this I mean decent sized excavation and getting experience from the bottom-up. I think it is far more healthy (and fun) for people to do a length on-site apprentiship before moving 'upwards' into give advice, doing assessments that sort of thing.
However, secondly, the way things are going, with big units based on older structural models struggling to stay at the same size (unless they grab more units in a sort of capitalist empire-building (which is also doomed to fail)) I think the days of 'the digger' may be over. This is also tied into technological advances too (e.g. geophysics can tell you a lot quickly without digging etc etc). On this basis I would say that people starting out need to have an awarness of the diversity of 'archaeology' as a profession and develop as broad-based an approach as possible. As much as I hate to, I think a successful newcomer could do worse than think like an environmental consultant, improve their desk-based skills and see large-scale digging as something that happens infrequently in the increasingly streamlined organisation they work for.
Firstly, I really hope there is an economic upturn. If field archaeology stays development-led then people coming fresh into the profession really will need lots of development to get a similar experience to, for example, myslef 10 years ago. By this I mean decent sized excavation and getting experience from the bottom-up. I think it is far more healthy (and fun) for people to do a length on-site apprentiship before moving 'upwards' into give advice, doing assessments that sort of thing.
However, secondly, the way things are going, with big units based on older structural models struggling to stay at the same size (unless they grab more units in a sort of capitalist empire-building (which is also doomed to fail)) I think the days of 'the digger' may be over. This is also tied into technological advances too (e.g. geophysics can tell you a lot quickly without digging etc etc). On this basis I would say that people starting out need to have an awarness of the diversity of 'archaeology' as a profession and develop as broad-based an approach as possible. As much as I hate to, I think a successful newcomer could do worse than think like an environmental consultant, improve their desk-based skills and see large-scale digging as something that happens infrequently in the increasingly streamlined organisation they work for.