4th July 2014, 09:07 AM
P Prentice Wrote:i think the singlemost important thing keeping contracts short and wages down etc is the assumption that anyone can dig and that the profession does not require graduate entry. on one hand the industry is intent on showing the world just how easy it is to do archaeology and then it moans about being seen as some kind of esoteric calling that does not require propoer pay and conditions - we are looking ever more like jobbing labourers for anitiquarians.
I disagree. I think that units have kept contracts short and wages low because they have always understood that there is a constant throughflow of graduates willing to take that first step on the ladder to try to get a career in archaeology before they realise that archaeology does not provide that career path and that diggers are just an exploitable resource. Thus they give up to pursue a different line of employment whilst the units take on a new batch of graduates and the cycle repeats.
Personally I would rather work with those with a 'natural affinity for digging' every time, be they graduate or non graduate.