Posts: 0
Threads: 0
Joined: Jan 2005
23rd October 2005, 06:41 PM
know exactly what you mean Hosty. Its a common get out clause to say that soil conditions mean they has been no preservation of skeletal material and that juvenile skeletons have survived less well than the adults. Juvenile material survives to exactly the same extent as adult, but it would help if it got recognised as being human juvenile material in the first place rather than as rabbits or mice (as happened on one site I was on, until I found a baby in the washed animal bone). If juveniles are being misidentified and adults not dug properly, what is this doing to site interpretations? If I hear the phrase "the children are being buried elsewhere" one more time I may hit someone. Better check through all that "animal" bone if I were you.
++ i spend my days rummaging around in dead people ++
Posts: 0
Threads: 0
Joined: May 2004
23rd October 2005, 07:28 PM
I feel that this may be a subtopic for the BAJR conference...
we have to get to the Universities and apply to them the same standards that are (cue head slapping) supposed to apply to contractors.
Only if people learn how from those that know how...!
Another day another WSI?
Posts: 0
Threads: 0
Joined: Jan 2005
23rd October 2005, 07:51 PM
well, if the intention at the conference is still to present papers, then I have already promised, and I stick by my original promise, that I will present a paper on human remains,re. poor standards, new guidelines, and whatever anyone else can come up with. I have a lot to say and I am not pleased }
++ i spend my days rummaging around in dead people ++
Posts: 0
Threads: 0
Joined: Dec 2004
23rd October 2005, 07:52 PM
Now you`re talkin.....
Posts: 0
Threads: 0
Joined: Jan 2005
23rd October 2005, 08:02 PM
specifically relying to what hosty said, the new EH/CofE guidelines specifically state that anyone who is going to be involved in the excavation of human remains should be made aware of the need for respect in their treatment, and that an osteologist should be present on site regularly to ensure maximum retrieval of material so the material is presented in a fit state for the assessment phase. These guidelines apply to contract and research excavations, so I should hope that universities were being made aware of their existence, and if not, maybe that is one thing we could try to achieve
++ i spend my days rummaging around in dead people ++
Posts: 0
Threads: 0
Joined: May 2004
23rd October 2005, 09:05 PM
Now there is a Positive goal... making people aware... (so many of these documents are tossed in the to do file... and making sure people hold to them.
I happen to have a list of every archaeology department in the UK.... hmmm... I can feel an email coming on.
Another day another WSI?
Posts: 0
Threads: 0
Joined: Apr 2005
23rd October 2005, 09:26 PM
Quote:quote:Originally posted by sniper
the new EH/CofE guidelines specifically state that anyone who is going to be involved in the excavation of human remains should be made aware of the need for respect in their treatment
Althoug I agree with the thrust of the arguement, I am not sure how far the jurisdiction of EH/CofE travels beyond the borders of England. For example, the guidelines don't apply in Scotland do they? I even hear rumours that their application within the CofE can be patchy depending upon local diocese or parish resources.
Posts: 0
Threads: 0
Joined: Jan 2005
23rd October 2005, 09:44 PM
unfortunately, the guidelines do only apply in England, and only to Christian burial grounds, but they do not just apply to work carried out where the church is the developer but to all commercial and research excavations of Christian burial grounds. As a profession we have a responsibility to uphold the guidelines, regardless of who we are working for. I am also of the opinion that churches should not be able to get away with disregarding these guidelines anymore than any other developer, simply by dent of who they are, and, in fact, making them abide by the same rules as everyone else was one of the driving forces behind this document in the first place
++ i spend my days rummaging around in dead people ++
Posts: 0
Threads: 0
Joined: Dec 2004
23rd October 2005, 10:32 PM
OOOH! What I could do with such a list Mr Hosty.......
Would be first in line in the jobcentre first thing monday morning though.
What would it take to utilise such a list Mr Hosty? The new Human remains guidelines would then be something everyone knew about! Not only that, would be good to receive responses from units outlining their policies on said treatment.Good PR for them, peace of mind for the bonies?
Posts: 0
Threads: 0
Joined: Apr 2005
23rd October 2005, 10:37 PM
I am a great fan of the new guidelines. However I can't see that small print item 225 requiring stratigraphic recording of all burial ground deposits 'such as natural subsoil, graveyard soils, paths, roads, dumps, walls, pits and so on. They must be excavated stratigraphically to be of any archaeological value' is going to make archaeologists very popular.
