20th March 2011, 05:18 PM
Hi. I'm kinda new at this, as I have been burying my head in the (academic) sand and not paying very close attention to what's been happening in the wider field. But I'd like to get involved now, because I think that it is an important defining moment in not only archaeology/heritage but society as a whole. So I volunteer to do what I can to help with all this, even though my positions and opinions on the myriad issues are by no means fully formed.
I'd like to echo the point that all of these cuts and the emphasis on pure cost is ripping away at what makes society a society. Surely we archaeologists, as scholars of culture, are in an excellent position to demonstrate that heritage is fundamental to community and even national identity, that healthy communities are a key part of a functioning economy, and that archaeology (and the heritage field generally) is essential to both.
I'd like to echo the point that all of these cuts and the emphasis on pure cost is ripping away at what makes society a society. Surely we archaeologists, as scholars of culture, are in an excellent position to demonstrate that heritage is fundamental to community and even national identity, that healthy communities are a key part of a functioning economy, and that archaeology (and the heritage field generally) is essential to both.