5th March 2012, 10:29 AM
This is a really interesting idea - as, like Flag Fen, traditional fundingstreams are drying up. And let’s be honest have not really been there for mostof us anyway. It is an inspiration that a group of people with drive and visionhave taken a traditional way to fund a project (volunteers) and revamped it fora digital age (lots of volunteers collected from the internet).
Good luck to them, the fact that this project reaches beyond the archaeologicalcommunity is really valuable, if you’re not already into archaeology how do youfind out about on-going projects, how do you get involved? This venture seemsto be able to reach further and effectively extends who can participate in archaeology- training digs are often quite elitist including: students or well-worn volunteers.This project has the potential to reach further, so alongside what is alreadythere it makes a contribution. It is also an interesting experiment; I for one willbe watching it very closely to see how it goes – but not because I’m critical becauseI’m interested in it.
In this Forum members spend a lot of time and effort complaining that somethingneeds to change. When a new project idea comes along there is dissent – I can’treconcile those two positions. What a surprise that a good project, with experiencedpeople, on a good site - that was someone else idea - comes along and there area lot moaning. Shame on you all, we need more of this, if more people had thisvision and put their passion and time where their heart was then maybe we wouldsee more of this type of thing. These people have jobs - this is in their time,and started up with their money! They are not a corporation nor are they profiteering,if it helps their careers then well deserved, we all need a bit of that.
DigVentures is not perfect, but how could it be, no archaeological projectever is? It will run, it will evolve and become more robust with experience. Itdoes not profess to replace commercial archaeology, nor will it replacetraining excavations. So what is the problem?
Lisa, Brendon you don't need to be so defensive, you’re onto a good thing,BAJR well done for supporting this, the rest of you - I commend you all foryour passion and dedication to archaeology, and your constant quest for betterpay and better standards.
But this is a good thing, whether it success or not, don't try to kill it beforeit begins!