11th May 2012, 01:11 PM
I agree with all that experience is vital, having spent the past ten years acquiring it and continuing to do so. The problem, as ever, is funding... experienced specialists do not work for free so perhaps university courses could teach the basic skills of particular pecialisms and engage specialists from the commercial sector to provide experience for students, because it would be great if students could see a bit more about the application of finds in proffesional archaeology rather than studying ad infinitum prehistoric pottery typologies that only occur on the fringes of scotland, and are only present outside museums in very very small pieces.
But my ranting aside, it would be interesting to see the IFA finds groups, prehistoric, Roman and medieval pottery research groups exploring the idea of greater engagement with universities, especially as many include some academics in their ranks.
But my ranting aside, it would be interesting to see the IFA finds groups, prehistoric, Roman and medieval pottery research groups exploring the idea of greater engagement with universities, especially as many include some academics in their ranks.