29th January 2009, 12:36 PM
Quote:quote:Originally posted by achingknees
Urban archaeological sites stripped for evaluation and then left open waiting for the next stage of excavation. Could be a few years...Those colonising plants sure do mess up the 'ology.
...Which is an interesting point. Can anyone think of an example where trenches have been opened at evaluation stage and the archaeology has been so significant that the development could not proceed?
Should we dump the notion of preservation in-situ and embrace new developments as an opportunity to investigate in a controlled way something that otherwise might disappear unrecorded through erosion (natural processes), gradual mechanical degredation (such as arable ploughing and harvesting operations, or tree growth and replanting) or some other 'unseen' agency (dewatering, for instance)?