11th June 2011, 12:12 PM
As a slight digression, any of you clever mathematical types (I'd reached my limit at/before A level - solid D grade...) know if Baysian analysis can be used on OSL/TRM data etc (ie other dating techniques that produce statistical date ranges) and if so whether data from different techniques can be combined? - have a nightmare job where am going to get some OSL or C14 and occasional strat relationships, but not too many of any individual type, and pretty much no dateable finds unless things take a sudden turn for the better, but the possibility of some clever maths might affect what/how to dig
.....yes, that's one of the possibilities that you should be taking into consideration before reaching for those sample tubs/tubes/whatever, what the h*ll is the justification for the sample and what can be done to get the most from the least tonnage of soil you're lugging off site, basic digging skill really, no point humping soil around for no reason, just speeds up the arthritis, routine/random sampling's ok but the client in general ain't going to pay for the analysis stage once they've found out how much it cost to seive it...really no point taking hundreds of litres of sample from a burnt post-pipe, except in unusual circumstances (eg. enough intact post for dendro), once you know it's oak and you've got a nice lump of outer rings for C14, unless you're planning a BBQ....had to stop someone this week, and its 300m+ back to the cabins...
.....yes, that's one of the possibilities that you should be taking into consideration before reaching for those sample tubs/tubes/whatever, what the h*ll is the justification for the sample and what can be done to get the most from the least tonnage of soil you're lugging off site, basic digging skill really, no point humping soil around for no reason, just speeds up the arthritis, routine/random sampling's ok but the client in general ain't going to pay for the analysis stage once they've found out how much it cost to seive it...really no point taking hundreds of litres of sample from a burnt post-pipe, except in unusual circumstances (eg. enough intact post for dendro), once you know it's oak and you've got a nice lump of outer rings for C14, unless you're planning a BBQ....had to stop someone this week, and its 300m+ back to the cabins...