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+--- Thread: Bizarre ditch question time. (/showthread.php?tid=5074)
Bizarre ditch question time. - richard cherrington - 11th October 2013
@Jack - yep bucket of water and a clean cut down shovel works a treat on clay, a stainless steel gardening fork is a good bit of kit as well.
@Tool - ive been on a lot of sites, usually prehistoric, where someone looks at a feature and says 'yes ive seen
Bizarre ditch question time. - Sikelgaita - 17th October 2013
Dinosaur Wrote:...so sampling 'ordinary' ditch fills is generally pointless - you don't know where the stuff originated from or how old it is (unless you have a discrete dump of something interesting). Stick to 'closed' contexts like (most) pits etc. Always think through the formation process before fetching the sample tubs
Very wise. I really wish some curators understood this.
Bizarre ditch question time. - Dinosaur - 17th October 2013
I get fed up with projects where 90% of the several tons of soil laboriously lugged off site is, at the end of the day, valueless - effort should = results [or is that just me getting old?]
Bizarre ditch question time. - Seedy Girl - 17th October 2013
Dinosaur Wrote:I get fed up with projects where 90% of the several tons of soil laboriously lugged off site is, at the end of the day, valueless - effort should = results [or is that just me getting old?]
Yes...and no (the yes is in answer to your last question
).
Bizarre ditch question time. - Sikelgaita - 18th October 2013
Dinosaur Wrote:I get fed up with projects where 90% of the several tons of soil laboriously lugged off site is, at the end of the day, valueless - effort should = results [or is that just me getting old?]
During evaluations in some counties, we are asked to sample all undated ditches. Why? Subsequent map research shows it to be 18th century and we end up with yet another batch of tubs waiting for the contents to be to be thrown away.
As for the age thing, well I am sure if I looked hard enough I would find in our yard unexamined/unprocessed samples older than my 27 year archaeological career to date.
Bizarre ditch question time. - Unitof1 - 18th October 2013
that's why all environmental sample processing should be done on site and should be part of site based costs and time even if it means taking water and tanks to site.
Bizarre ditch question time. - Sikelgaita - 18th October 2013
Unitof1 Wrote:that's why all environmental sample processing should be done on site and should be part of site based costs and time even if it means taking water and tanks to site.
Well, as a very long time lurker here I was not expecting that response.
The costs for environmental sampling should indeed be included in the cost for every job, as should the cost for providing toilet facilities, but I doubt many units lug their own toilets to and from every evaluation.
Bizarre ditch question time. - Dinosaur - 18th October 2013
Resources dedicated to environmental sampling, once costed in, should be used to gain the maximum return for the money/time/effort in the form of useful information about the site? - discuss :face-thinks:
You have a yard? - Seedygirl will be green with envy }
Bizarre ditch question time. - P Prentice - 18th October 2013
richard cherrington Wrote:.... a stainless steel gardening fork is a good bit of kit as well.for what pray tell?
Bizarre ditch question time. - P Prentice - 18th October 2013
Sikelgaita Wrote:Subsequent map research shows it to be 18th century and we end up with yet another batch of tubs waiting for the contents to be to be thrown awaycall me old fashioned, but, if you do the map work first you might save yourself the latter!