5th November 2010, 12:48 PM
(This post was last modified: 5th November 2010, 12:53 PM by GnomeKing.)
the universities + the IFA have been specificity aware of this situation for at least a decade - when one looks into the practicalities of orientating courses to commercial field skills many problems are found...
ultimately I think many will agree that field skills/excavation skills are learned through long practice on-the-job....
....there are therefore very concrete practical limits of how a university can teach those skills, and the Responsibility must fall on those who are Making Money through archaeological excavation of sites.
It is they (if they actually care) and their product which suffers through lack of appropriate skills - it is essential for a Grown-Up Profession to provision itself with a Future through passing on of training and job-specific skills to the Next Generation, and by pushing for higher standards of attainment to continually Improve its product.
Universities can not be expected to take responsibility for the failure of the profession to address this issue.
Furthermore, as has been said before, archaeology is much more than just excavation....many aspects of research, data collation, analysis and insight use materials already excavated....the study of Humanities past is rather Grander and more Broad than the point of a trowel.........
Universities provide skills in learning, foundations of knowledge, and modes of critical awareness - they should not expected to take the slack for Unit Directors either too Incompetent or too Selfish to equip their industry with a Future.
ultimately I think many will agree that field skills/excavation skills are learned through long practice on-the-job....
....there are therefore very concrete practical limits of how a university can teach those skills, and the Responsibility must fall on those who are Making Money through archaeological excavation of sites.
It is they (if they actually care) and their product which suffers through lack of appropriate skills - it is essential for a Grown-Up Profession to provision itself with a Future through passing on of training and job-specific skills to the Next Generation, and by pushing for higher standards of attainment to continually Improve its product.
Universities can not be expected to take responsibility for the failure of the profession to address this issue.
Furthermore, as has been said before, archaeology is much more than just excavation....many aspects of research, data collation, analysis and insight use materials already excavated....the study of Humanities past is rather Grander and more Broad than the point of a trowel.........
Universities provide skills in learning, foundations of knowledge, and modes of critical awareness - they should not expected to take the slack for Unit Directors either too Incompetent or too Selfish to equip their industry with a Future.