5th October 2007, 08:05 PM
From my view of the discussion at the BAJR conference it wasn't so much that people were set on a pan-European standard. The real need that was highlighted is to make sense of the plethora of standards and guidance documents that we have available now.
They are spread out between the IFA, English Heritage, other specialist organisations, county councils etc etc. and sometimes contradict each other. The concern was what do you follow when.
The Dutch document was highlighted as an example of where, seemingly, a concensus has been reached on a nationwide basis as to what standard to follow for a range of archaeological activities. The benefits of not re-inventing the wheel for each project and knowing that the job role of a site assistant or project officer between companies were comparable seemed to be the biggest pluses.
Whilst I think that a pan-Euro document may be useful at a broad brush and principles level (the standard?), I still think each contry will want an appendix setting out the details of how that is interpreted in their domain (the guidance?). In the meantime lets work on our own standard and guidance (by all means based on the Dutch example) and then we can bring something to the table when it moves forward.
They are spread out between the IFA, English Heritage, other specialist organisations, county councils etc etc. and sometimes contradict each other. The concern was what do you follow when.
The Dutch document was highlighted as an example of where, seemingly, a concensus has been reached on a nationwide basis as to what standard to follow for a range of archaeological activities. The benefits of not re-inventing the wheel for each project and knowing that the job role of a site assistant or project officer between companies were comparable seemed to be the biggest pluses.
Whilst I think that a pan-Euro document may be useful at a broad brush and principles level (the standard?), I still think each contry will want an appendix setting out the details of how that is interpreted in their domain (the guidance?). In the meantime lets work on our own standard and guidance (by all means based on the Dutch example) and then we can bring something to the table when it moves forward.