In between the guest blogs on cannibalism by Kate Brown, I have stumbled across this website called Past Horizons– related to the Past Horizons magazine. As the site deals with various facets of archaeology, it is a veritable treasure trove of information. Ranging from excavations, cultural practises and opinion pieces (not to mention detailing the best tools for arch jobs!), this multimedia website has something for everyone. Two articles aroused my interest.
Katy Meyers article on Open Access Archaeology provides interesting information on how archaeology is presented across the medium of the world-wide web. As a subscriber to the British Archaeology magazines, I notice they too have a column detailing new and interesting websites related to heritage and archaeology. The exploitation of the internet as a place to spread (mostly free) information about heritage & archaeology has led to a burgeoning amount of websites available, both to the common public and the academic researcher. Interactive sites, such as the one mentioned in the article on Chaco Canyon in the American Southwest, commonly include vast databases on archaeological sites. These often include information on the structures present, artefacts found, cultures present, detailed maps, excavation histories at the sites and everything in between. This is vitally important in the study of archaeological sites as context and providence is everything. This can only be a good thing.
As Meyers concludes her article, she states that –
“We have a responsibility to make our data available to scholarly, public and online communities, preserve it in a format accessible to future researchers, and do so in a way that faithfully represents the real nature of our data. And it is through this pathway that we can further knowledge of our past“.
Further to this, Jane Woodcock also has an article on the website detailing the Catch 22 situation of recent graduates gaining archaeological field experience. Jane notes that –
“Many people, including some undergraduates studying archaeology, are under the impression that once you have a degree qualification you are employable as a field archaeologist. In practice, however, most commercial employers require a minimum of 3-6 months’ on-site experience before they consider offering you a job. A clean driving licence and a CSCS card will put you further up the list. Unfortunately, most archaeology degrees only require you to do very little field work to pass, usually 2 weeks or less”.
These days you require a cscs card to obtain work with the majority of construction sites. Do you feel that its genuinely essential to resit the exam every Three to five years. Would a longer or shorter time be better?cssc card
Hello Cscs test Leeds,
I think the period 3-5 years is adequate to renew the cscs cards. I need to think about getting one soon! What are your views?
by the way, your site is very good for information on the cscs card system, I’d highly recommend everyone interested in obtaining a card or whose interested in field archaeology as a career to visit and read your site- http://constructioncarduk.com/