8th September 2008, 09:39 PM
I'm not suggesting that the counties in the north aren't interested, it's perhaps more the case that the perception, even amongst some archaeologists is that there is nothing to find. This often based on the assumption that all regions are like the south-east and that A: the sites are huge, B: They always have loads of finds, C: developers can afford to pay.
When faced with archaeology that is potentially significant, but not spectular to look at, it is difficult to appreciate if you've spent most of your career dealing with massive multi-phase sites with loads of treasure. If I had a pound every time I heard someone complaining about the archaeology being boring, even when it was quite good for the region, I would have at least £6.50! (As an aside, it is quite depressing how close in mentality to treasure hunters many supposedly professional archaeologists can be).
Anyway, this is probably straying from the point, which was that the perceived differences are largely in the eye of the beholder - it's just a bit unfortunate when the beholder happens to be someone writing recommendations at the end of a DBA.
As for developers being able to pay, it is obviously true that most of the country is not going to see a development the size of, and therefore with the financial imput of, T5 for example. Many parts of the country simply aren't going to see the sort of huge developments that provide the opportunity to have a really good look at the archaeology. Of course, if they did come about, it would probably be considered only worth a watching brief based on the 'negative' (in every sense of the word) results of previous work nearby. The difficulty is that if you work in an area where some periods are apparently almost devoid of artefacts finding a ditch on an evluation or watching brief is hardly likely to be a justification for further work. Elsewhere in the country the same sort of feature might have dateable pottery in it that points to something more significant. The ability to demonstrate that the former example is important would be quite a rare gift.
When faced with archaeology that is potentially significant, but not spectular to look at, it is difficult to appreciate if you've spent most of your career dealing with massive multi-phase sites with loads of treasure. If I had a pound every time I heard someone complaining about the archaeology being boring, even when it was quite good for the region, I would have at least £6.50! (As an aside, it is quite depressing how close in mentality to treasure hunters many supposedly professional archaeologists can be).
Anyway, this is probably straying from the point, which was that the perceived differences are largely in the eye of the beholder - it's just a bit unfortunate when the beholder happens to be someone writing recommendations at the end of a DBA.
As for developers being able to pay, it is obviously true that most of the country is not going to see a development the size of, and therefore with the financial imput of, T5 for example. Many parts of the country simply aren't going to see the sort of huge developments that provide the opportunity to have a really good look at the archaeology. Of course, if they did come about, it would probably be considered only worth a watching brief based on the 'negative' (in every sense of the word) results of previous work nearby. The difficulty is that if you work in an area where some periods are apparently almost devoid of artefacts finding a ditch on an evluation or watching brief is hardly likely to be a justification for further work. Elsewhere in the country the same sort of feature might have dateable pottery in it that points to something more significant. The ability to demonstrate that the former example is important would be quite a rare gift.