23rd October 2008, 07:11 PM
16) I would definitely advocate the photographic skills...how to take a useful photograph with a fully manual camera using ranging rods, takes practice.
17)I would also add understanding the difference between a geomorphological feature and an archaeological one, but seeing as some senior archaeologists struggle with this, it would be harsh to ask graduates
"excavate this dry stream bed, it looks like a soutterain!"
Seriously though,
At the end of the day, these are all SKILLS, which take time and practice to develop. If we're all honest, how many of us were decent at everything that came up during our first commercial excavations?
I think most graduates do short or very sporadic excavation during a degree and universities vary widely in their requirements for this. It is probably unreasonable to expect everyone to be adept in all aspects of basic fieldwork following on from a few weeks digging spread thinly over 3 to 4 years. For example, during my degree, but I only ever once got the opportunity to excavate a pit or a posthole, there were either few of these features to go around or it was always walls!
A potential problem is that how many universities have professional units still attached to them? Deriving competitive skills may become increasingly difficult unless commercial and university-based archaeology interact on a more grass-roots level, across the board.
17)I would also add understanding the difference between a geomorphological feature and an archaeological one, but seeing as some senior archaeologists struggle with this, it would be harsh to ask graduates
"excavate this dry stream bed, it looks like a soutterain!"
Seriously though,
At the end of the day, these are all SKILLS, which take time and practice to develop. If we're all honest, how many of us were decent at everything that came up during our first commercial excavations?
I think most graduates do short or very sporadic excavation during a degree and universities vary widely in their requirements for this. It is probably unreasonable to expect everyone to be adept in all aspects of basic fieldwork following on from a few weeks digging spread thinly over 3 to 4 years. For example, during my degree, but I only ever once got the opportunity to excavate a pit or a posthole, there were either few of these features to go around or it was always walls!
A potential problem is that how many universities have professional units still attached to them? Deriving competitive skills may become increasingly difficult unless commercial and university-based archaeology interact on a more grass-roots level, across the board.