9th January 2013, 10:38 AM
(This post was last modified: 9th January 2013, 10:52 AM by GnomeKing.)
RedEarth Wrote:The ones I love best are where they don't even give a percentage and you are just supposed to guess how much! God help anyone working across three or more county boundaries! So much for research aims though, eh!
This is why PPS5 "sufficiently understood" was a very useful concept - however, it requires HIGH STANDARDS of field work and DETAILED monitoring by Counties/Planning to be effective as a means of ensuring good archaeology.
Failing that, Lacey Hey 2001 attempts to present a formula 'Idiots Guide', which was intended to be of some use in orchestrating whatever monkeys were actually out there... It should not have become the industry standard it now is.
Please read the Document. Pay special attention to how the degree of success in 'locating archaeology' is highly variable and closely dependent on the nature of the archaeology. Not only is this an objectively poor instrument, it is also dangerously self referential.
Hey was certainly on the circuit in the late 90's delivering this paper and 'research'. I listened (i think twice) back then to her presentation, along with some much more senior (academic) people. Many of them were not convinced. Neither was I.
The audience were interested in the papers conclusions for 'best practice' and that they matched up very closely with the method statements of a particular commercial company that Hey worked for. It was also interesting how European Union funds had been made readily available for the 'research'.
Issues regarding the sub-optimal practice of computed/predictive modeling generally (and specifically, i.e. Australia) were raised, as-well-as criticism of the the way this particular data had been collected and used (especially how 'expert archaeological decisions processes' were modeled - yes, I do mean you MR N.S. !)
A detailed criticism of this report and its impact of the culture of professional archaeological practice could provide a powerful spring board for many positive changes...(for somebody with time / funding to do )
IN SHORT:
Please read Lacey "Hey & Lacey 2001 - Evaluation of Archaeological Decision-making Processes .."
But, Please Please don't believe a word of it!