I totally agree, when you get diggers turning up on site looking like a bunch of badly turned out hippies we're already starting on the back foot. A lot of the problem is that some people are great archaeologists but hold no form of social or interaction skills to be able to hold their own in the often very alpha male world of construction sites. In commercial archaeology this has to be an essential part of the archaeologist that you are.
You can't rock up on site expecting to be looked upon as important simply because you think you are. It ain't gonna happen!!!
A lot of the reason, as quite rightly already pointed out, is that money talks and we are very small beans - even in comparison to Ecologists (which i would say are viewed even further down the food chain than archaeologists on site) so all it takes is someone to shout a bit louder than you to the county mounty and you'll swiftly get told to round up and finish off.
We don't get paid anywhere near equivalent to the work we do and the skills that we have to do it, but this is why we ALL need to up prices, but as already mentioned this isn't going to happen whilst companies are trying to be competitive and win work. Until all companies (or worthwhile ones) join in with this ethos nothing will change.
You can't rock up on site expecting to be looked upon as important simply because you think you are. It ain't gonna happen!!!
A lot of the reason, as quite rightly already pointed out, is that money talks and we are very small beans - even in comparison to Ecologists (which i would say are viewed even further down the food chain than archaeologists on site) so all it takes is someone to shout a bit louder than you to the county mounty and you'll swiftly get told to round up and finish off.
We don't get paid anywhere near equivalent to the work we do and the skills that we have to do it, but this is why we ALL need to up prices, but as already mentioned this isn't going to happen whilst companies are trying to be competitive and win work. Until all companies (or worthwhile ones) join in with this ethos nothing will change.