Archaeology... are we lackeys of the capitalist state?

[kevin wooldridge]

well obviously there are exceptions and i'm glad to see you both reiterate yours. but it is undeniable that the product, and therefore presumably the methods, of a vasy amount of archaeological mitigation submitted as part of the planning process is piss poor and does nothing to further archaeological research or theory. from where i sit it appears that quality is being left to a decreasing number of individuals whilst the majority chase profit margins and market share and require the workforce to cut corners and ignore the bigger picture.

I think what is possibly shows is that there is a mismatch between the standard that is deemed 'minimal but adequate' by curators and that which many archaeologists would consider the minimum needed. The work being done isn't necessarily poor. Conundrum for many archaeologists is, 'Walk away' or 'Do the best we can with the time and funding available'. Some archaeological undertakings are able in very difficult circumstances to raise their game due to the skill and experience of their staff and those that use more efficient but equally accurate working practices. Your suggestion is that the majority of archaeologists have given up on quality...I don't believe that!! I think the majority are still trying to square the circle of the conundrum....