Course 201: Lesson 3 Not all archaeological remains are equal.[SIZE=2]
A key concept, often difficult for the budding supervisor to get to grips with is Significance.
As archaeologists we naturally want to save absolutely every scrap of archaeological information possible as it is our mission, our passion and often the breeze blocks chained to our feet.....
But, and its a big but, to save the many, the few must fall by the wayside.
Or put another way,
'The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.'
'Or the one'
It is impossible, impractical and financially unrealistic to dig every square millimeter of archaeological deposits, collect wash, mark, record, report on, archive and store every find (artefact or ecofact)
Just do the maths!
So how are the decisions made as to where to dig, what sample of features to excavate and how best to do so, which deposits to environmentally sample or which finds to discard?
In the commercial world every cost must be accounted for and justified.....
It is the potential significance of the feature/deposit and what it contains to add to existing knowledge and/or add to stated research objectives that dictates its importance.
This importance is measured against the cost. That is the cost of excavating/recording/recovering the evidence on site, but also the post-excavation costs of assessment, analysis and publication.
Then the question is posed.....is it worth it? If yes, then do it. If no, then can a smaller sample suffice? etc etc.
It sounds shocking written down, but think on this, it is also the basis of all digging decisions.....For instance, should this slot be wider? Do I have to dig another slot through this ditch? Do I need to take out the other half of this pit? Does this topsoil need sieving?
Learning what is significant and what isn't is part of becoming a supervisor and progressing within the industry. It takes time and an awful lot of reading and understanding. Luckily there are a multitude of guides from the IfA and EH to aid is this. Also several period-specific and region-specific publications have been produced that summarise what is known, what isn't know, and what needs to be done.
These documents are both the tools to learn about significance, but also are the justification used at the assessment stage of post-excavation when stating what analysis should be done and what shouldn't.
The journey of understanding significance is like a ladder. The first rung could be reading MAP2 and MORPHE etc, or asking your manager on site/or on the phone. The last rung, however, is never reached!
[/SIZE]
A key concept, often difficult for the budding supervisor to get to grips with is Significance.
As archaeologists we naturally want to save absolutely every scrap of archaeological information possible as it is our mission, our passion and often the breeze blocks chained to our feet.....
But, and its a big but, to save the many, the few must fall by the wayside.
Or put another way,
'The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.'
'Or the one'
It is impossible, impractical and financially unrealistic to dig every square millimeter of archaeological deposits, collect wash, mark, record, report on, archive and store every find (artefact or ecofact)
Just do the maths!
So how are the decisions made as to where to dig, what sample of features to excavate and how best to do so, which deposits to environmentally sample or which finds to discard?
In the commercial world every cost must be accounted for and justified.....
It is the potential significance of the feature/deposit and what it contains to add to existing knowledge and/or add to stated research objectives that dictates its importance.
This importance is measured against the cost. That is the cost of excavating/recording/recovering the evidence on site, but also the post-excavation costs of assessment, analysis and publication.
Then the question is posed.....is it worth it? If yes, then do it. If no, then can a smaller sample suffice? etc etc.
It sounds shocking written down, but think on this, it is also the basis of all digging decisions.....For instance, should this slot be wider? Do I have to dig another slot through this ditch? Do I need to take out the other half of this pit? Does this topsoil need sieving?
Learning what is significant and what isn't is part of becoming a supervisor and progressing within the industry. It takes time and an awful lot of reading and understanding. Luckily there are a multitude of guides from the IfA and EH to aid is this. Also several period-specific and region-specific publications have been produced that summarise what is known, what isn't know, and what needs to be done.
These documents are both the tools to learn about significance, but also are the justification used at the assessment stage of post-excavation when stating what analysis should be done and what shouldn't.
The journey of understanding significance is like a ladder. The first rung could be reading MAP2 and MORPHE etc, or asking your manager on site/or on the phone. The last rung, however, is never reached!
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