11th October 2005, 09:15 PM
In last century many sites were excavated by local labour supervised by a staff consisting of site assistants, who did the drawing, and supervisors who wrote the diary. Then there was the finds assistant and the field chemist and of course the cook.
The labour were paid at either a rate set by government or based upon local authourity rates for labourers.
In some places archaeology graduates were used instead of local labour employed on effect on cash in hand basis to avoid tax and giving employment rights.
The body for field archaeologists was only open to people who had been in charge of a substanial project.
I would suggest that in fact things have changed dramatically in the last 15 years. Which is not to say more change is needed.
Peter
The labour were paid at either a rate set by government or based upon local authourity rates for labourers.
In some places archaeology graduates were used instead of local labour employed on effect on cash in hand basis to avoid tax and giving employment rights.
The body for field archaeologists was only open to people who had been in charge of a substanial project.
I would suggest that in fact things have changed dramatically in the last 15 years. Which is not to say more change is needed.
Peter