The Herit Age

[P Prentice]

less than 100% is vandalism

[P Prentice]

meanwhile, back in the real world......

thanks for the giggle though :face-approve: worth logging in for. It was a joke, no?

how many of yours have been dug? what do we know about them? how many can you afford to loose without compromising what we could find out about them?

[deadlylampshade]

100% excavation = 100% destruction :face-huh:

Well, yes it does but I'd rather have 100% recorded archaeological destruction than just ripped from the ground and concrete thrown in the hole...

[Jack]

Jack you are so PPG16 - its not about mitigation anymore, its about 'understanding'.
i would contest that any cursus in Britain is worth 100% excavation and that no level of destruction should be tolerated without such.

Yes I am.

Mitigation and understanding can go hand in hand though and construction projects often have varying levels of destruction.

In my experience there is always a negotiable give and take on site with clients due to unexpected or extra special archaeological remains, construction timetables and deadlines, access etc.

In the case of the cursus ditch, yes it is (apparently) ritual (but I dare you to try and prove that they are!) so under normal conditions would require 100% excavation.

But in fact is (often) just a pair of ditches. What extra information do you expect to get out of hand digging 100% say of a 100m long cursus ditch that you wouldn't get from digging say 75% or 50%?

i did like your rant on digginthedirt though

Thanks, I did enjoy venting

[P Prentice]

Hi Jack
the last time i dug a cursus ditch and undertook some research it was more than apparent that nobody had actually bothered to dig more than the odd section through one thereby leaving 100s yards completely unknown. you cannot extrapolate anything from such a small sample so i reiterate my contestion (is that a word?) that everything left is still important as it may contain the information we dont yet have. and just cus nobody has chanced upon much between the ditches it dosent mean there is nothing there.
with regard to proving them ritual - i dont see a need and i think that academic theory has moved way beyond worrying about what is ritual and the ritual of what is!

[Boxoffrogs]

Archaeology is 100% destructive regardless of how much is left in the ground, for some day soon a big yellow machine will be along and rip it all out. Why? "well you've dug it havent you?" or "who gives a shit?". Once (not so many years ago) I heard the head of a major UK consultancy argue that we need not bother digging any more BA barrows as we know all there is to know about them, don't we?

I have excaveted 100% across Ireland and only once in the UK, and only then because we found the only one of 'the damned things' ever to be excavated in Cornwall!

[Dinosaur]

Am saving the possible barrow till last }

If anyone in authority actually cared they'd have (a) scheduled my site long ago (it's been known for over 60 years), and, (b) objected to the mineral consent (within the 21st century) without any adequate archaeological mitigation strategy being put in place by a previous curator (which to some extent compromises the position of the current curator). As it is, at least the client is prepared to shell out for a not insignificant amount of excavation and recording which in reality they could probably get away with less of, and with a level of enthusiasm and helpfulness, so good on them :face-approve:

The big ditches are really quite boring, people have been looking at them since the 1970s, pretty much same profile everywhere, and it costs around a grand to hand-dig each 5m ditch section (needs that much to be able to photo the sections) so only a dozen or so this time around. There are much nicer things to spend the budget on like buried ground surfaces, bank, palisade trenches, pits, C14, OSL, pollen (not holding my breath on that one), soil science, palaeoenviro, that kind of stuff...luckily the finds PX is only going to run to about a fiver at the current rate....a decent flint would be nice :face-crying:
But yes, I'm with the outraged contingent, 100% would be a nice way of filling in the 15 or 20 years to retirement, solid employment anyway.....

[alisdair]

Our commenter is a paramedic working the busy nightshift in one of the roughest and most dangerous inner cities in the country. And did I mention the voluntary work at the orphanage??

Got to go with Sith on this one #8, as a trained First Aider I am acutly aware that should I walk away from a situation anywhere I can be charged and fined upto ?1000 for not stopping to help which is in direct contravention to your commentator, up here in the frozen north a health professional on his break refused to attend a 'shout', sadly the poor woman died of her heart attack, needless to say after some 'training' that individual is still in employ, so I would also like to quote Red Earth but add in true Scottish manner 'Get it right f*****g up yea, you arrogant, igonrant p***k, at least I endevour to educate my species and refuse to play the sympathy card. Your choice of profession, suck it up or move on!

[Boxoffrogs]

.......But yes, I'm with the outraged contingent, 100% would be a nice way of filling in the 15 or 20 years to retirement, solid employment anyway.....

Well dont keep all the work to yourself, some of us have a lot less time before retirement and sit at home kicking heals awaiting an upturn in the ConDems economy

[Sith]

have you read PPS5?

Yes.





Thanks to the short message rule I'll have to qualify that I suppose. I have read it and digested it too. I was being fatuous.