3rd September 2012, 01:47 PM
Surely theory/knowledge about the past AND skills of excavation are the combined corner tones of what we're about as practicing archaeologists (?). Do we really want a situation where you'd have to choose one or the other, especially at the age of 18 or so. It would be a very sad day for our profession if these things were formally separated. I think setting up a new kind of fieldwork-type school would lead to another tier of separation. I'm sure we'd still get the same situation of professionals saying that the graduates from such schools lacked the 'real-life' experience of doing full-time commercial work anyway - wouldn't we just raise the bar again to justify our positions? That's the point: you always start off inexperienced, whatever degree or certificate you get in archaeology. I guess, if you want to see a profession where proficiency in digging, recording and removing things from the ground is seen as the one and only goal of our engagement, then perhaps this is the future - but it's certainly not one I want a part of.