25th May 2007, 10:54 AM
Absolutely. I was just miffed by the explanation for his incompetence seemingly being that he was a classicist, as though that needed saying. What difference does it make what he was?
I have to deal with this a lot as I work in a large archaeology and ancient History department where *some* of my archaeology colleagues presume that I'm some sort of historian and not a 'proper' archaeologist because I currently work in a period for which there are literary texts. However, just because my PhD was written on classical Greece, it doesn't wipe out my entire background as a field archaeologist, or indeed my qualifications in Bronze Age Greek subjects. If I thought for one moment that someone on one of my sites explained a questionable decision that I might have made by the fact that I was a 'classicist', I'd be mad...
Anyway, 'universally agreed methods'..? Unfortunately, very few countries excavate the way we do in Britain. I worked on a Greek site where they attempted to put MoLAS guidelines into practice and it was impossible. Different countries, different conditions...
I have to deal with this a lot as I work in a large archaeology and ancient History department where *some* of my archaeology colleagues presume that I'm some sort of historian and not a 'proper' archaeologist because I currently work in a period for which there are literary texts. However, just because my PhD was written on classical Greece, it doesn't wipe out my entire background as a field archaeologist, or indeed my qualifications in Bronze Age Greek subjects. If I thought for one moment that someone on one of my sites explained a questionable decision that I might have made by the fact that I was a 'classicist', I'd be mad...
Anyway, 'universally agreed methods'..? Unfortunately, very few countries excavate the way we do in Britain. I worked on a Greek site where they attempted to put MoLAS guidelines into practice and it was impossible. Different countries, different conditions...