22nd December 2012, 05:23 PM
(This post was last modified: 22nd December 2012, 06:15 PM by Kel.)
Quote:he's still the guy to show the 'tricky' bits of pot to - irreplaceable!And there's another good point - are any efforts being made to replace him? The only way you can really learn about pottery (as I'm currently finding) is to work with someone who already knows about it. You can do all the studying you like, but you eventually end up with a few boxes of mixed pot and a deadline, for which no amount of reading is a proper preparation. As someone has pointed out, the differences between hand-made pottery from different periods which use the same raw material sources, can be very subtle. Somebody has to train a specialist how to spot them, with the pottery in their hands. You won't be learning it from a book.
Does anyone know existing pottery (or indeed, other find type) experts who have "apprentices"? Is any attempt being made to transfer existing specialist "niche" expertise to others? Or are we just waiting until the venerable old guard retire in despair, so that we can bemoan the useless youngsters who will be left to carry the can?
Let's face it - a prerequisite for having a decent specialist report, is having a decent specialist.