23rd March 2005, 05:39 PM
Recent workin jolly to the near east revealed a bit of a nightmare thought you might like to hear about...turns out that a national museum allows foreign excavations to deposit their goodies in the museum in the foreigners own systematic ways. No standard policy issued by the museum means that finds are stored in some of the most ridiculous ways and the associated paperwork is either non-existant or totally irrelevent! Get the idea that professor-types take students as labour, trash complex archaeology in the sun, wrap em` up in clingfilm, make no notes, go home and create all sorts of fabulous publications resulting in endless lecture invites. Hmmmmmmm. How do I approach such a museum without sounding patronising or arrogant? Any conservators out there like to help me out here?[?]
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24th March 2005, 01:35 AM
don't get me started!!
I sometimes think that some uni profs are sent away from the Uk to stop them harming archaeology here!
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24th March 2005, 05:37 AM
You'd probably have to make it sound like the museum were doing you a favour by letting you tidy up the mess. That would probably involve more students (possibly post-grads), such as museums studies students who need a big project...... which might be a lot of hassle as you'd then have to find said students who would then be willing to base their major project so far away.....
Lucy
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24th March 2005, 10:41 AM
I dont think your case is unusual Troll. I think theres definietly a colonial British school in wheverever attitude that absoloutely sucks: dig up the stuff with the help of the locals (dont they look happy) and scarper quick. Any decent academic would at the very least write archiving (and bringing appropriate archive stores up to scratch) into his/her rather large AHRB budget. Ive seen some archives not even in museum stores with boxes piled high, and cos of damp have just compressed in on each other.
Cant offer a solution though: why should those who do care have to let themselves be exploited picking up the pieces for those who couldnt give a f*** in the first place.
Why not offer to help assist in writing an appropriate standard archive policy with the museum for British users, and then chase up the miscreants with it and get them on a plane...
Gumbo
