12th November 2008, 07:26 AM
You have a site that has been machine stripped. All the archaeology has been done to the highest standards. You are happy that the job could not have been done better. When the D8 dozer starts moving the spoil you notice some bits of pot or flint. You stop the machine to investigate. Coming from the topsoil spoil they are unstrat or at best marked up as (1000). As such their "value" is limited. Picking out these sherds before they get trashed and lost for good cannot bad.
How often are bags marked "Unstrat" put straight in the bin without anything more than a cursory look? Personally, in my tool box I have several bits of pot and flint that have come from spoil heaps. I don't have trouble sleeping at night. Having these bits of unstrat allow me to say to newbies (who maybe know a lot about hairdressing or working in a call-centre but not a lot about digging) "This is what we are looking for...have a look, have a feel"
Archaeology is a precious resource but sometimes we can be too precious about it. Keeping a few sherds of pot which no longer have a strong stratigraphic reference (and which in all likelyhood not even warrant a mention in the report) is nothing compared to the industrialised destruction of sites that we see on a daily basis.
Just my Euro's worth
Just give me a cold Becks
How often are bags marked "Unstrat" put straight in the bin without anything more than a cursory look? Personally, in my tool box I have several bits of pot and flint that have come from spoil heaps. I don't have trouble sleeping at night. Having these bits of unstrat allow me to say to newbies (who maybe know a lot about hairdressing or working in a call-centre but not a lot about digging) "This is what we are looking for...have a look, have a feel"
Archaeology is a precious resource but sometimes we can be too precious about it. Keeping a few sherds of pot which no longer have a strong stratigraphic reference (and which in all likelyhood not even warrant a mention in the report) is nothing compared to the industrialised destruction of sites that we see on a daily basis.
Just my Euro's worth
Just give me a cold Becks