9th June 2005, 12:48 PM
Sorry knees I was thinking of spoil heaps, not artefact scatters. I know some units that routinely scan spoil with metal detectors, and I have heard of others who are hesitant to do so as that would create too much unstratfied metal that then has to be looked at by specialists.
Certainly important that discards are identifed as such. I've seen some sites where they were put into plastic bags with labels saying excavated by XXX on site YYY with a date. Not so good for the environment, maybe, but keeps it clear where it's come from. Also if it's discarded at a late date - say by an archive changing collections policy - presumably it will be marked.
Another muddy area is Victorian and later material. On one hand, this stuff is of academic interest and it is being retained for future study. On the other, there's so much of it, and it's so darn new! Pity the archaeologists of the future, what with all the crap we leave behind![:p]
Certainly important that discards are identifed as such. I've seen some sites where they were put into plastic bags with labels saying excavated by XXX on site YYY with a date. Not so good for the environment, maybe, but keeps it clear where it's come from. Also if it's discarded at a late date - say by an archive changing collections policy - presumably it will be marked.
Another muddy area is Victorian and later material. On one hand, this stuff is of academic interest and it is being retained for future study. On the other, there's so much of it, and it's so darn new! Pity the archaeologists of the future, what with all the crap we leave behind![:p]