Free archaeology

[Unitof1]

Not sure this makes complete sense!

The geophysics surveys of the world normally go about finding the biggest, most easily accessible resources at the cheapest expenditure..The trend over time is to find smaller reserves in amongst the earlier discoveries. Over time they have gone from 2D surveys to 3D....

I'm very puzzled as to why you say geophysics can't assist in evaluating a site.

Primarily because in a planning application I have a "site". I am not trying to find a site. What I am trying to do is exploit or if you like evaluate a "site" presumably to a view to excavate the site.

Are you saying that all sites that are put up for development should be totally stripped for the purposes of assessing the archaeology

that could depend on what you mean by assessing. PPG16 said that evaluation should be considered an inexpensive method. With trench evaluation you have evaluation attempting to find a site for excavation as well as evaluation trying to estimate the cost of any subsequent excavation of a site. The assessment is about what signifies something called excavation which I would suggest should not be confused with evaluation. Sites that are put up for development have footprints of intensive development as well as peripheral areas where the impact of development is less substantiated. What should an evaluation assess: establish articulated human remains but not excavate them, find context secure features but not establish their extent, with the out come that a price for excavation with contingency can be established.

If you have kept up the water is already pretty muddy: are we talking post determination or pre. If it was left to me I want that client to positively come to me before they go anywhere near a curator, pay through the nose for me to totally strip the "site" of any archaeology before they go anywhere near a curatorial system. They will get the cheapest price and archaeology will get the best result and you probably will still call me a cowboy.