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BAJR Wrote:Well you do have to say... if archaeology was that easy... anyone could do it... ah... hold on...
So some form of accreditation should be - and may be a sensible precaution. You see it as fascist. I see it as stopping mad assed have a go saw the time team once ( actually one of my clients) thinking they can do it. They can't if you must be authorised.
So in Order. to start out.
Ability to dig stratigraphically
Ability to record coherently
Ability to drive
As a non-driver I'd have to take umbrage with the last one Hosty :p (even when starting out and even if it's true
).
Back in the day most of the diggers had dreds, a dog on a string, were vegan and couldn't drive. And yet some of these were (as you will know) excellent archaeologists.
I know several very senior archaeologists who don't drive and they seem to do fine thank you very much.
I get the 'it makes things awkward' argument. I get the drivers annoyance at having to ferry people about, but still....
If it's a case of hiring someone who is a good driver as opposed to someone who is a good archaeologist surely it's better to hire someone who can actually do the job?
Maybe this rant should have been in the 'standards slipping' thread but I felt the need to vent. Sorry.:I
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Well, as long as you're not driving you can take as much umbrage as you like! There's no law against passenging under the influence of umbrage...
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barkingdigger Wrote:Well, as long as you're not driving you can take as much umbrage as you like! There's no law against passenging under the influence of umbrage...
That's it? That's what you've got to give?
A heartfelt plea from me for the cruel masters of life as an archaeologist to just take a second to think about those left out in the cold and all you can come up with is a bad pun?
You've changed man. You've changed
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re: Driving > not so much out employability but simple practicality, for the employee aswell. If i look at new staff for new job somewhere, likley people will need to get themselves there, often with no convenient public transport. If we offer accoadation also then it is not difficult to get people without cars to site, or pick up/drop off somewhere at start/end of week...but often that might not be so easy.
You dont have to own a car > for full time employees, many company have vehicles for use...i am always happy to make arrangments where practical to accomadate people without vehicles.
Personaly, my own car is an essential and fundamental piece of kit, for this profession and other work i do...(i aprreciate the now vast costs of learning to drive and new driver insurance however, which are bigger problems).
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Excavation is about Similarity & Difference; the ability to prepare the materials for observation; the ability to look at details to make distinctions, and the ability to communicate your thoughts coherently.
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GnomeKing Wrote:re: Driving > not so much out employability but simple practicality, for the employee aswell. If i look at new staff for new job somewhere, likley people will need to get themselves there, often with no convenient public transport. If we offer accoadation also then it is not difficult to get people without cars to site, or pick up/drop off somewhere at start/end of week...but often that might not be so easy.
You dont have to own a car > for full time employees, many company have vehicles for use...i am always happy to make arrangments where practical to accomadate people without vehicles.
Personaly, my own car is an essential and fundamental piece of kit, for this profession and other work i do...(i aprreciate the now vast costs of learning to drive and new driver insurance however, which are bigger problems).
I get all that and it is true, but...........(takes deep breath)
nearly every job (I'll take a wild guess at 99%) specify a driving licence as an
essential in their job specs. Is it? Absolutely? I've seen jobs advertised in central London which say it is. And other jobs
based in offices which claim it is due to occasional travel around the country. Surely that is what a train is for? The ones that offer a 'cycle to work scheme' whilst insisting on driving are funny too in their green box-ticking hypocrisy.
Not every archaeological job requires a driving licence surely?
What does it for me is that it is
the common denominator in job descriptions. Not how much experience one has (negotiable), or positive character trait (?who cares), or the ability to
always get the pointy end of the trowel to stick in the ground when thrown at it :face-approve:. Oh no.
I know I'm fighting a losing battle. I know that I'm out of date. But I still think it's unfair :face-crying:
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[weird, only the first 2 paras come up when trying 'reply with quote', so...]
...had forgotten the trowel thing, an absolute essential, although
hitting the ground with the pointy end is fairer unless you reside somewhere with soils free of annoying pebbles and other hard bits?
...oh, and the ability to always catch the handle end when trowel-flipping?
...and doing the ripping-the-arse-out-of-your-trousers-when-your-trowel-catches-climbing-through-a-fence-in-a-comic-manner should also be compulsory skill
Have pretty much mastered all three, but its been a long haul!
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Dinosaur Wrote:[weird, only the first 2 paras come up when trying 'reply with quote', so...]
...had forgotten the trowel thing, an absolute essential, although hitting the ground with the pointy end is fairer unless you reside somewhere with soils free of annoying pebbles and other hard bits?
...oh, and the ability to always catch the handle end when trowel-flipping?
...and doing the ripping-the-arse-out-of-your-trousers-when-your-trowel-catches-climbing-through-a-fence-in-a-comic-manner should also be compulsory skill
Have pretty much mastered all three, but its been a long haul!
re the 'only two para's thing- it's probably due to the intense force of my angry typing embedding it so deeply that it was impossible to take out (a bit like my trowel-spearing :face-approve
.
I never perfected the trowel-twizzling skill- bit flashy for my catholic tastes, but I have now reached advanced level trouser-ripping as I now rip-the-arse out of my trousers whenever attempting to get out of a trench.
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I agree - common denominator in job specs is not so good > however even if it wasn't up front, it would still be a factor, as employee with car/license seems to make life much easier for employer...
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GnomeKing Wrote:I agree - common denominator in job specs is not so good > however even if it wasn't up front, it would still be a factor, as employee with car/license seems to make life much easier for employer...
Factor? I could cope with factor. A factor would be fair enough. But as it is it's the defining attribute.
archae'ologist (noun) the study of man's past by driving there. From the Greek 'arkhaios' meaning-
It's only a 1.4 litre but it works out cheaper in petrol when you take everything into account.
