Another reason to say 'respect' to Dr Alice Roberts

Teaching creationism.. is no better than teaching the earth is flat. Way to go Dr Roberts!

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/01/...18230.html

Teaching pupils about creationism in science lessons is "indoctrination", according to the new president of the Association for Science Education.
Professor Alice Roberts has called for new laws banning all schools, including those in the private sector, from teaching the topic alongside evolution.
The new national curriculum for primary schools, due to be introduced this September, contains a clear requirement for pupils to be taught about evolution.

But the curriculum only applies to state schools, not private schools. Academies and free schools can choose not to follow the national curriculum, although most funding agreements between the Government and these schools say they must teach evolution as "a comprehensive, coherent and extensively evidenced theory".
In an interview with the Times Educational Supplement (TES), Prof Roberts, who has presented a number of BBC programmes including The Incredible Human Journey and Origins of Us, said: "There should be regulation that prevents all schools, not just state schools, from teaching creationism because it is indoctrination, it is planting ideas into children's heads.
"We should be teaching children to be much more open-minded.
"People who believe in creationism say that by teaching evolution you are indoctrinating them with science, but I just don't agree with that.
"Science is about questioning things. It's about teaching people to say, 'I don't believe it until we have very strong evidence'."
But critics have hit back saying "only countries like North Korea ban the teaching of religion in schools."

Read this last night, and looking forward (or not) to seeing the show on Tuesday for a lengthier explanation?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-25760383


To be fair, reading this made me quite cross (could have been the wine on the train!). I feel it's very much not akin to archaeology and more to disturbing/looting corpses at best because we're a bit interested, or at worst for media acclaim. (I am always very uncomfortable when human remains are disturbed unless they're going to be destroyed otherwise). I'm going to watch said documentary first, as I expect the good doctor has been taken out of context, but when such weak conclusions are offered up to the media it does make me wonder, shock horror! whether archaeologists should be licensed.

Or am I just being a bit sensitive?

Answers on a postcard please...

In response to issues raised by representatives of the archaeological sector at an event organised by the Archaeology Forum in October 2013, the Minister for Culture, Communications and the Creative Industries, Ed Vaizey, has initiated a review to be undertaken by Lord Redesdale and John Howell MP into the future of local government archaeological services.


The review is seeking written evidence on a set of defined questions. You are invited to consider your responses and submit them by the deadline of 14[SUP]th[/SUP] February 2014. Oral evidence sessions are scheduled to follow in March. The questions are accompanied by a briefing paper detailing background information to the review to assist respondents in formulating their submissions.


The review is intended to take in a broad range of opinions from across the UK, and it is open to anyone to submit evidence. It would therefore be appreciated if you could share this message with colleagues in your networks.

Future of Local Government Archaeology Services Briefing Paper (19.9K, .DOCX)
Word Document


Future of Local Government Archaeology Services Questions (17.6K, .DOCX)
Word Document

http://www.gislounge.com/lidar-archaeology-revolution/

There is no doubt that remote sensing technology has created a dramatic shift in the past few years concerning how scientists and researchers gather and analyze information about the Earth. Remote sensing, the use of satellites or aircraft to gather data about objects from a distance, has an almost infinite number of applications. This kind of technology has been used to monitor the environment, map the ocean, explore the Polar Regions, and much more. Now, a form of remote sensing technology called LiDAR is being used to lead a revolution in archaeology transforming how scientists understand human activity of the past.
Changes in how archaeologists study the past are being brought about by advances in LiDAR technology. LiDAR, which stands for Light Detection and Ranging, is a method of remote sensing that uses light to measure varying distances to the Earth. This light is in the form of a pulsated laser, and these pulses can be used to produce exact data about the characteristics of Earth’s surface. LiDAR instruments are made up mainly of a laser, a special GPS receiver, and a scanner typically attached to an airplane or helicopter for use over a wide area.

Read on: http://www.gislounge.com/lidar-archaeology-revolution/
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I`ve been running an Academy based community archaeology and cultural heritage project for a while now.........lots of really inspired members from 11 years old to 70 and numbers are growing rapidly. Very exciting excavation coming up this year but more on that later

I`m appealing to your years of experience as I have stumbled across an extraordinary talent amongst our ranks. Andrew mentioned that he dabbled with art as a hobby so I sent him home with a flint core, a chunk of Samian and a book on archaeological illustrating. What he brought back took my breath away. I genuinely thought he had photographed the finds. I can`t begin to describe how talented this man is. Would you please have a think about what advice I can give to Andrew-he is looking for work (not as a part of our Society by the way) and as the world of illustration is a foreign land to me as a humble digger...... I would hugely appreciate your assistance!

With many, many thanks and the very best of wishes to you all for a prosperous (and rain-free:0) 2014.
Troll

Humour in Archaeology seeks content!

Rescuing the social history of humour in archaeology from skips and backs of cupboards! Technology, policy and practice can create an airbrushed view of archaeological practice and humour is often removed from final publications and public display. The HumArch website archives field notes, diary entries, poems, videos, site songs, photographs, fanzines, and much more. We're interested in humour in museums and public outreach / education too. Please share and if you have something on humour in archaeology we’d love to hear from you! Get in touch content@humarch.org

www.humarch.org

"In the spring of 2012, Dr. Pat Sutherland was dismissed from the Canadian Museum of Civilization after working there for 30 years. Her research from Baffin Island brought to light to light compelling evidence based on archaeological analysis and carbon dating, that the "Norse" had landed in North America long before Cabot or Columbus. Sutherland was fired from her post as curator of Arctic archeology at the Canadian Museum of Civilization and her husband was stripped of his emeritus status. There are rumors that she was fired because her findings were not consistent with a certain historical narrative the Canadian government wants to tell.

Join the facebook page to add your support
https://www.facebook.com/BringBackDrSutherland

You can read more here where the individual has brought together research on the subject

http://historum.com/american-history/538...earch.html

The viedo below is a fascinating warning to us all. the treatment of the archaeolgoists Pat Sutherland is pretty schocking... seems the Canadian Museum of [SUP]Civilization[/SUP] -sorry- History is willing to tell us all about her bullying... but not talk about her dismissal. a person in post for 30 years... and now we find out about bullying ? hmmmmmm

Anyway... read watch... support
[video=youtube;Ms45N_mc50Y]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ms45N_mc50Y[/video]

Is there any material out there on average weight of material from Roman cremations? Asking for someone trying to deal with bags of remains.

And The Reviews Are In: Evaluating Digital Dwelling...

http://digitaldirtvirtualpasts.wordpress...-dwelling/

As a taster:

Quote:Feedback for the film and exhibition overall was hugely positive but of course, this isn’t the Time Out or Rotten Tomatoes film review and though positive feedback is fantastic to see for any project, it all boils down to research in the end. So from a research perspective hearing from people who really didn’t like the film was in most cases tremendously useful, even if they didn’t realise it when they wrote it! Negative feedback ranged anywhere from constructive criticism to being unapologetically mean. And then there were the few that mistook the comments box on the feedback form for some kind of visitor book. Well, at least Denmark liked it.
Some of the most interesting comments furiously insisted that this simply was not what the past was like, that people in the Neolithic were just like us and that the film rather than simply not being to their taste was unquestionably wrong. Collectively, comments indicated that a large proportion of people approach an interpretive visualisation with some level of preconceived expectation over what an archaeological reconstruction or visualisation should do and how it should be represented. In most cases this general public preconception seems to pertain to an archaeological reconstruction representing the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. And I can say with all certainty – in no archaeological re-constructive situation is this ever completely possible! The issue with an attitude which expects an explanation as opposed to an interpretation is that it places all interpretive responsibility on the visualisation itself, excusing an audience of any need for critical awareness when consuming these images.

Had this request from Paul Barford.

Anyone got any info?

Tell me and I will pass it on


[INDENT]I have an important question and it'd be great if I could get an answer from you and your members. Could I ask you to see if members of the BAJR forum have some info to hand?

I'd like to get some statistics on finds rates/proportions from excavations in the UK.

What I'd like are some figures for
1) the number of coins found
2) the number of other non-ferrous artefacts (small finds)
3) the number of iron small finds (I'd need to know if nails are included)...

...from excavated sites of ROMAN and MEDIEVAL date (though Post-med would not be rejected).

The idea is to compare this information from excavations with a set of data I have for objects collected by metal detectorists in East Anglia for something I am writing.

Ideally I'd like figures from 15-20 sites of different types and different regions if that is possible.

My thinking is that several of your members will presumably have worked on depositing excavation archives in recent months and will have such figures to hand.

Any help given will of course be properly acknowledged.
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