17th July 2013, 10:12 AM
kevin wooldridge Wrote:but is it such a vital skill as it once was and can the ever increasing 'efficiency' of commercial archaeology justify such 'out-dated' techniques?
Bear in mind the current crop of "techies" pushing the development of digital drawing, TST/GPS capture, GIS databases etc are all skilled veterans of the Pencil Era. They already know what to record, how many dots to use, how to check accuracy etc because they've had to do the mental gymnastics in the old days. I've run across folk who assume the "magic box" can do all the thinking, so three points round the edge can obviously create a great drawing of a complex pit! The new tech could replace pencils (and paper CXT forms) with lots of added benefits, but only with extensive training so noobs can learn the whys and wherefores of recording that us "old lags" take as second-nature.