Sikelgaita Wrote:I have met several people who have come into archaeology from a background in construction. Without exception they are at least as good or better diggers than those who have graduated.
IMO the primary skill required to be a digger is the ability to recognise and appreciate differences in soils by colour, composition and texture etc. Some people have a instinctive eye for it and all improve with experience. Not having a degree is no barrier to this.
I'm flattered...
It's an interesting point though. I think that my construction background has helped me, in that I'm used to viewing things in the sequence they were formed (it's how you build/dismantle things, after all), and used to seeing the difference between that which is naturally formed and that which has had human influence. Still get it wrong occasionally mind...
[edited to add] It also gives you a certain work ethic that can be missing from the student life... I'm wondering again if there is a call for a widely available, widely recognised and regarded vocational education route in archaeology. In construction there were (dunno if they're still done) HNCs and HNDs, which were much more practically based.
I reserve the right to change my mind. It's called learning.