Is the time right to sort out pay and conditions?

[Marc Berger]

Surely the main point of evaluation is to aid the curator (and ultimately the planning authority) in deciding upon the proposed impact of development on the archaeological resource and thereafter to devise appropriate forms of mitigation...at the point of 'evaluation', cost is largely irrelevant

Shirley without excavation there is no archaeological resource. The curators and geophysics are putting horse before cart when they use evaluation to find archaeology and geophysics pretends to be evaluation.

Diggers rates of pay are very much based in "excavation". Its probably where they get their introduction to field archaeology and where experience of pay and conditions are formulated. On average what does the industry expect out of digging -one feature or three a day and would you cost that on a rate or price.

So without an evaluation (the answer will not involves algebra), if you set out on an expedition to the hinterland land of excavation how many diggers would you take with you, what rate of pay would you be willing to pay them, how long would you expect them to tell their families that they would be away for and where would you locate the site hut?

and that got dug in 2hrs in lumps in sub-zero temperatures on a January morning, no different to any other feature [apart from the cool stuff]

priceless?