CBA Community Archaeology Report

[BAJR]

just seen Units post and like him I don't know what he is driving at... CA is targetted mainly at archaeology with no development invovled... it is community building and training... commercial is development driven... no real comparison.

[RedEarth]

For all of Unit's apparent insanity there is, I feel, a pillar of meaning in all that lot. It might be a pillar of sand but at least a few grains make some sense if you look hard enough. He may just be a misunderstood genius.

I too have a slight unease about the moral quality of money from the lottery - gambling or a tax on the desparate, call it what you want, but it potentially makes everyone it touches a bit grubby.

[Dinosaur]

.....The discussion should hinge around the quality of work....I have seen some shocking CA and some exceptional CA....

I've noticed the same disparity in the standard of work from 'professional' archaeologists (including IFA-registered outfits....despite what BAJR may think about me being a single unit guy I've dug for at least a dozen other organisations since starting to work for this outfit, and some of them are awful) - people shouldn't be criticising others on standards until they've got their own houses in order (general observation, not aimed at anyone in particular....). Some 'amateur' reports are a d**n sight better than some of the 'professional' grey literature I regularly come across in SMRs?HERs :face-stir:

[BAJR]

AS have I when I was a Development COntrol Archaeologist... but then I would not allow shoddy work past me...

BAJR don't think nothing about you being a single unit guy... BAJR is blind io :face-confused:

People should indeed be looking at quality... and that goes for everyone. Amateur, professional, academic, digger, researchers... don't care... Adequate has become a benchmark in many cases. I have seen shocking work in Commercial work too... the point being that 'rather than fragment and get huffy about each other, surely this is a cycle where everyone supports everyone else... ie... from community and amateur digs come the talent that makes the professional that helps the amateur groups (gawd I hate the word amateur) that produces the talent... etc.

As to being uneasy about taking lottery money? No more so that accepting from Mega Corp Industries or a Bank that trades in weapons or perhaps an airport group that plasters the green and pleasant land with runways? Pipeline for OIL or Gas anyone... winfarms that pepper the once unspoiled moors? I thinks ethical is a tricky one... and when looking down at ones hands you will find they are all fairly grubby... :face-kiss:

[RedEarth]

As to being uneasy about taking lottery money? No more so that accepting from Mega Corp Industries or a Bank that trades in weapons or perhaps an airport group that plasters the green and pleasant land with runways? Pipeline for OIL or Gas anyone... winfarms that pepper the once unspoiled moors? I thinks ethical is a tricky one... and when looking down at ones hands you will find they are all fairly grubby... :face-kiss:

Indeed, but there isn't a lot of 'clean' money about it would seem.

[BAJR]

Seems that way... so hopefully we can divest ourselves of the lottery is dirty money idea... it may indeed be a form of gambling, however, unlike 'most' gambling... the proceeds are distributed (a large percentage) back into the community. Now whether those that buy lottery tickets decide whether to invovle themselves in projects and activities or the plethora of outher causes the lottery supports... well thats up to them.

Currently I am applying for another grant... he HLF part is about 25k... part of which will pay for 3 commercial archaeologists to assist in the excavation, and the services of several specialists to work on the material. There will be involvement from YAC clubs, Schools, a range of other groups from the over 50s to people with various marginalised groups and hard to reach communities... the community itself will be involved and there will be a GLOW webcast to schools all over Scotland... a film will be made and various activities will take place that will play upon the positive strengths of groups and individuals. In all I hope to get around 200 people involved over a 2 week field season, followed up by work to create the report, the booklet, video and signage... there will be a lasting legacy to the project and all involved will hopefully go away with a feeling that they either learned, taught, shared, enjoyed.... students could also come to learn more about the whole process of archaeology - and by that time I hope to have more skills passports to test. In general this allows a large number of people to get involved and to even create some experience that some new archaeologists need. I also hope the commercial archaeologists will enjoy the different pace... not rushing to get it done, but slowing to enjoy and experience the process while working with (note with) the volunteers.

Some grubby money? maybe... worth it? well I think so. :face-approve:

[Unitof1]

[SIZE=3]hopefully we can divest ourselves of the lottery is dirty money idea

.[/SIZE]

Possibly but it is money that comes with an agenda which presumably in this case understands what community archaeology is.

I don’t really understand what the scribed document is supposed to be. Is it an archaeological report? It starts entitled Big Cousland Dig, then The Cousland Local History project.

And then

[SIZE=3]1.0 SUMMARY A community archaeology project was carried out at the village of Cousland in Midlothian. The sites that formed the investigations were located in a field to the west of Cousland, the environs of the castle and walled garden in the centre of the village and the windmill to the southwest. The work consisted of fi eld walking and geophysical survey with the intention of locating the actual pottery site, geophysics to locate structures in the environs of the castle and walled garden and a metal detecting survey to pinpoint any metal objects in both the walled garden and the field directly to the south of the castle.
[/SIZE]

The actual pottery site? Where did that "actual pottery site" come from

Further on

[SIZE=3]Although mention of a site was first made in 1852, the first known scientific investigation took place in 1957, when “evidence of a number of burials was discovered when digging holes for a fence. One burial was fully excavated and found to be laid in a long cist. There were capstones about 1’ below the surface, and p aving: the sides were of irregular stones, four on each side
[/SIZE]

Its all a bit of a mess no references, no bibliography, the contents page refers to a numbered headings but there are also unnumbered headings in the text.

The pottery report

[SIZE=3]Certainly there is a significant quantity of 18th century pottery from the site in both white creamware and redware bodies, and much of this in the form of kiln furniture
[/SIZE]

There appears to be only two pieces of kiln furniture mentioned in the pottery …roundup

Any way there does not appear to be an author, theres no mention of copyright apart for the os, theres no mention of the landownerhip/permissions, the archive the final repository…


From the lottery benefits page I get

Benefits for people

[SIZE=3]The project was hugely committed to community involvement and more than 60 members of the local community took time to develop archaeology skills and learn more about the history of their area.
[/SIZE]

Should I equate this to ?6300/60people=?105 was spent per person of community origin. Any body want to spend ?105 on me (thought not). Possibly this is the wrong way to look at this “project” as it does appear to have covered an incredible amount of archaeological ground beside a SAM which apparently subsequently was involved in development. The documents even got a context register. Is it an example, the real thing what is anybody supposed to do with it?

If you had come to me and asked for a price to do the job and I had said ?6300 I don’t think that I would have been allowed to start based on generating a record for which there would be limited if any fund for post-excavation analysis and what about contingency. Was there any contingency in the HLF funding. Is this really profeesional.

[BAJR]

guess you really dont understand com arch unit. you are deliberately obtuse... deliberatle misleading and fairly wide of the mark in disolving the product down to 105 quid per person. i realise you dont like charities and i realise that the reality of working to a high standard that is in line with community expectations and needs may go soaring over your head.

i cant understand your problem i really cant... i weep with despair.

[Unitof1]

I suspect the lottery are doing the laughing, they get to play archaeology, community, history benefactors for ?6300. IFA recon that ?6500 does not get you an average evaluation, but somehow you can get to name drop every archaeological technique in the book: desktop geophys, evaluation, fieldwalking excavation and post ex and educate everybody in the community all about their history (not mine) and also be trained up archaeologists working to high standards way above my head. Hay all you diggers out there, give up now you lot are a joke, going around moaning about pitiful pay and conditions didn?t you know archaeology is child?s play. without very dodgy monies I don?t see how you can make a living at community archaeology. I can see how you make professional archaeologists look like overpaid jokes.

[BAJR]

they get to play archaeology

Who gets to play archaeology?

IFA recon that ?6500 does not get you an average evaluation

What a bizzare statement... no really

but somehow you can get to name drop every archaeological technique in the book: desktop geophys, evaluation, fieldwalking excavation and post ex and educate everybody in the community all about their history

Its called offering time in kind. I had a BBC historian helping on the research (handy for 15th and 16th century records...) an eminant ceramic specialist, a local group who could carry out geophysics,, etc etc... I had friends who were willing to give time, in order to have... wait for it... an enjoyable time with people who wanted you there, who were always raring to go and welcomed you... I enjoy and enyed it... never said I make a living out of it... its that I do it because I enjoy it... puts the spring back in my step. The next round will be involving more specialists - paid at full rate, as the project now has legs... evaluation is over... 6300 well spent as an eval. 2 years of work and now we are ready... full funded, complete post ex plan... research agendas ready... specialists placed and primed. we don't have long til the site is ploughed out. and without the previous work it would not have been found or recorded... it would have gone... vanished... unknown... waiting for a development to land on it... (unlikely)

You comments about "archaeology is child’s play" and "give up now you lot are a joke" "without very dodgy monies" absolutely idiotic... you make these up in your head... why will the volunteer be able to record a context? plan? photograph? ... ah... its the archaeologists there to help when needed, take over, instruct, guide.To say when to stop and what to put where.. (oh and listen from time to time to a surveyor, a retired geologist, and photographer) SO they could not (nor should not) try and do a time team dig without expert guidance.

"I can see how you make professional archaeologists look like overpaid jokes."

Now that is personal...
and you had better just stop there. Do you understand that Unit :face-confused: