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14th March 2012, 09:22 AM
Quote:The CLASP group, a registered charity, has been gathering Roman objects from sites across the county for 10 years, amassing a hoard of valuable material that is helping piece together exactly how people lived in Northamptonshire 2,000 years ago.
But a farm building that has been holding the objects has now changed hands, and the new owner has given notice he would eventually like to see them find a new home.
Stephen Young, archaeological director, said: ?We have such a lot of good stuff, from a good 20 sites in the county, and we would love to show people what we have.
Any takers?
This is an issue that we should all take note of.
WE all find stuff. we store stuff... we box it, we archive it, we then look at the mounting pile of STUFF...
Go on... discuss... don't knock CLASP (This is used to highlight a hidden warehouse bursting issue) --- they are nice people. !
http://www.northamptonchron.co.uk/news/e...-1-3616721
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14th March 2012, 09:41 AM
(This post was last modified: 14th March 2012, 09:53 AM by Unitof1.)
why cant we knock them? -they dont seem nice to me. The Romans did more for me than who ever CLASP are. Why cant we run what they have done along the ethics of a professional archaeologist? Maybe compare and contrast with this digventure. Personally I dont think that there is uch demand for this stuff as its pretty much worthless, maybe a token few quid off ebay. Take it. Obviusly there the problem of flooding the market. This what who ever they are do
TO ADVANCE THE EDUCATION OF THE PUBLIC IN THE SUBJECT OF ARCHAEOLOGY, IN PARTICULAR BUT NOT EXCLUSIVELY, IN WEST NORTHAMPTONSHIRE.
Reason: your past is my past
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14th March 2012, 12:57 PM
Archaeological archive and storage is not a new problem....unfortunately it is one that whilst recognised is rarely addressed. I am sure that CLASP are full of good intention and as a largely amateur group perhaps worthy of some kind of award for their diligence, but surely their professional 'advisors' could have seen this problem arising several 'tons' back and have raised the matter as one of grave concern.
As it is, the scale of the problem now seems far beyond the best intentions of any private individual and probably beyond the means of any public body (I hope I am wrong but I'm not optimistic) particularly as there is no indication in the article that the 6 tons of 'stuff' comes with any guarantee of funding or means of generating funding.....So my solution would be a quick and dignified burial, hopefully in a place where the memory of the resource can be revered for a few years to come.....
With peace and consolation hath dismist, And calm of mind all passion spent...
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14th March 2012, 06:28 PM
?Pack it all in an old shipping container and bury it somewhere safe? - suitably packaged, of course - future researchers may need a JCB and an angle-grinder....
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14th March 2012, 08:36 PM
what CLASPING at straws could do is buy this
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Iveco-Daily-65...519dca6464
and then drive it around to anybody who says "Community archaology" and say fund this first before you become some sad archaeologists last hope.
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15th March 2012, 10:02 AM
Don't Panic! I think I've got the answer:
[ATTACH=CONFIG]1056[/ATTACH]
D. Vader
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A tremor in the Force. The last time I felt it was in the presence of Tony Robinson.
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15th March 2012, 01:39 PM
If the stuff's all been properly recorded, ie they know where it came from, couldn't they put it back where they found it?
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15th March 2012, 01:47 PM
Isn't there a historical precedent for 'landfilling' with unwanted artefacts. I'm sure I read somewhere that Wheeler's excavations at Maiden Castle were backfilled with material that a local museum wanted to get rid of, and that when the 1980s excavations started they began to unearth moth-eaten exotica such as Bengal tigers etc.
D. Vader
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Vader Maull & Palpatine
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15th March 2012, 02:38 PM
(This post was last modified: 15th March 2012, 02:43 PM by kevin wooldridge.)
Sith Wrote:Isn't there a historical precedent for 'landfilling' with unwanted artefacts. I'm sure I read somewhere that Wheeler's excavations at Maiden Castle were backfilled with material that a local museum wanted to get rid of, and that when the 1980s excavations started they began to unearth moth-eaten exotica such as Bengal tigers etc.
I recall photographs of a crocodile.....
...actually this is probably a case of just misjudging the public perception and understanding of archaeological finds . If CLASP had announced that they had 6 tonnes of finds that required storage, of which a proportion was human bone, I guess that would have at least prompted a letter to The Times from 44 distinguished archaeology professors and their friends, stating a whole list of reasons it shouldn't be buried, should be available to researchers etc etc ...
With peace and consolation hath dismist, And calm of mind all passion spent...
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15th March 2012, 04:58 PM
(This post was last modified: 15th March 2012, 05:01 PM by gonetopot.)
Can anybody with, or connected to CLASP confirm how much of this material has been written up into either grey literature that is accessible, or published. My experience in trying to source reports from a variety of important sites in N'hants, yes Ashton i'm thinking of you, is that they only exist in archives stored in peoples garages or under desks. Unless, this material is recorded by record, not just 'ooh look what we found' then disposal is not an option. If it is recorded by record then a disposal strategy should be formulated for c.80% of the collection and the rest deposited with the relevent museum store. I can't believe, well actually I can, that supposedly responsible archaeologists have allowed such a mountain to build, but until CLASP resolve this they should not be allowed to generate any further material.
I do not doubt the noble aims of CLASP, but this is archaeology gone awry due to a lack or forward thinking on proper post ex and archiving.
Just my tuppence worth.
