7th June 2004, 10:55 PM
Of course it is the exception that proves the rule!
In view of my previous analysis (which admittedly had something of the tone of an editorial from The Economist), I would like to speculate further...
Firstly, will archaeology will eventually mature into the kind of structure which we see in other construction-related professions. Will we see a situation of greater polarisation between so-called Quality Units and the so-called Cowboys?
Secondly, is there likely to be an increase in the division of labour between 'consultants' and 'contractors'? In practice many units do both at present, and some larger ones (such as Oxford and Wessex) will no doubt continue to do so. However many smaller units may end up as purely 'consultants' which subcontract archaeological labour from 'contracting' organisations. These may do project management on smaller jobs, but will effectively provide digging/buildings/whatever teams for larger projects.
Or is this already happening?
Is it desirable for archaeology? - and I don't just mean the 'profession' I mean the rather hazy notion of 'archaeological enquiry' as a whole.
In view of my previous analysis (which admittedly had something of the tone of an editorial from The Economist), I would like to speculate further...
Firstly, will archaeology will eventually mature into the kind of structure which we see in other construction-related professions. Will we see a situation of greater polarisation between so-called Quality Units and the so-called Cowboys?
Secondly, is there likely to be an increase in the division of labour between 'consultants' and 'contractors'? In practice many units do both at present, and some larger ones (such as Oxford and Wessex) will no doubt continue to do so. However many smaller units may end up as purely 'consultants' which subcontract archaeological labour from 'contracting' organisations. These may do project management on smaller jobs, but will effectively provide digging/buildings/whatever teams for larger projects.
Or is this already happening?
Is it desirable for archaeology? - and I don't just mean the 'profession' I mean the rather hazy notion of 'archaeological enquiry' as a whole.