23rd February 2011, 01:25 PM
GnomeKing Wrote:... we might as well try to reform some of the fatuous and wind-baggy nonsense that has grown without much reference to fact.
Is that a reference to me? :I
I have come up with some silly comments recently on this forum, so hopefully here is a more solemn one to buck the trend.
Research for its own sake is a noble pursuit, valuable for the knowledge it generates, whether this is in archaeology or in particle physics. However, the resources for the funding of such research is finite, so research centres and their funding bodies, such as the UK treasury, have to make value judgements about what to fund, and how much. The focus is very much on science, as this is seen as having valuable and profitable outcomes for society. Academics in archaeology are caught in a fight for scarce and diminishing resources with well-established, prestigious academic subjects with a demonstrable reputation for developing economically beneficial outcomes- scientists, technologies etc. The intangible nature of the benefits accruing from arts and social science, and the comparatively lower level of income for arts graduates, puts the likes of research archaeologists on the back foot.
Commercial archaeology exists to fulfill a separate function, and is funded in an entirely different way. The funding of archaeological projects in the commercial sphere in the UK is dependent on individual developments and requirements for consideration of archaeological/cultural heritage impacts. Commercial archaeology (both units and curators) can help itself and research archaeology by improving the pay, conditions, training and quality of archaeologists by e.g. chartership status, and by making the fruits of their labour relevant to both the wider public and to academic audiences. Developing power structures that are not directly dependent on either government funding (e.g. curators) and developers (e.g. units) such as the IfA is important to developing the profession.
It's a shame that money takes such a prominent role in both commercial and academic archaeology, but we as a society have limited resources and need to mobilize those resources to match society's expectations as best we can. The best thing that we as individuals can do is to make our work relevant to our audiences - academic, public, curatorial and developers. In other words, do the best you can, and you'll be helping both the discipline and the profession as a whole!
