The invisible diggers : contemporary commercial archaeology in the UK
The invisible diggers : contemporary commercial archaeology in the UK
Since the increasing reliance on developers to fund archaeological work through the 1980s, and the implementation of Planning Policy Guidance Note 16 (PPG16) in 1990, British ‘commercial’ archaeologists have become increasingly distanced from their academic colleagues. This thesis examines the situation within contemporary ‘commercial’ archaeology and considers the challenges faced by those employed within that sector, including the impact of commercial working practices on pay and conditions of employment and the process of excavation and knowledge production.
Part One provides an historical background, documenting the development of ‘developer-led’ archaeology from its roots in the largely volunteer ‘rescue’ excavations. There is also a consideration of the perception of fieldwork as ‘labouring’, from the earliest excavations through to the present. Part Two presents the analysis of the data gathered for this study. Beginning with quantitative data provided by a survey of commercial archaeologists, I present a portrait of the people employed in that sector before moving on to discuss the written submissions that many respondents included when submitting the survey. These chapters present and then develop certain key themes and the subsequent analysis of extensive qualitative interviews with 28 participants allows these themes to be considered in far greater detail. The thematic analysis of the interviews is divided into two chapters – one considering the career paths of the participants and the other discussing their perceptions of the profession – and these sandwich the analysis of a participant observation study undertaken over two months in 2004/5. This work provides a fascinating insight into the working environment of commercial archaeologists and demonstrates how camaraderie and love of their job is often just enough to outweigh the adversity they face in the form of low wages, poor employment conditions and career prospects.
University of Southampton
2006
Everill, Paul
(2006)
The invisible diggers : contemporary commercial archaeology in the UK.
University of Southampton, Doctoral Thesis.
Record type:
Thesis
(Doctoral)
Abstract
Since the increasing reliance on developers to fund archaeological work through the 1980s, and the implementation of Planning Policy Guidance Note 16 (PPG16) in 1990, British ‘commercial’ archaeologists have become increasingly distanced from their academic colleagues. This thesis examines the situation within contemporary ‘commercial’ archaeology and considers the challenges faced by those employed within that sector, including the impact of commercial working practices on pay and conditions of employment and the process of excavation and knowledge production.
Part One provides an historical background, documenting the development of ‘developer-led’ archaeology from its roots in the largely volunteer ‘rescue’ excavations. There is also a consideration of the perception of fieldwork as ‘labouring’, from the earliest excavations through to the present. Part Two presents the analysis of the data gathered for this study. Beginning with quantitative data provided by a survey of commercial archaeologists, I present a portrait of the people employed in that sector before moving on to discuss the written submissions that many respondents included when submitting the survey. These chapters present and then develop certain key themes and the subsequent analysis of extensive qualitative interviews with 28 participants allows these themes to be considered in far greater detail. The thematic analysis of the interviews is divided into two chapters – one considering the career paths of the participants and the other discussing their perceptions of the profession – and these sandwich the analysis of a participant observation study undertaken over two months in 2004/5. This work provides a fascinating insight into the working environment of commercial archaeologists and demonstrates how camaraderie and love of their job is often just enough to outweigh the adversity they face in the form of low wages, poor employment conditions and career prospects.
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Published date: 2006
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Local EPrints ID: 466057
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/466057
PURE UUID: 1f201cde-eff4-46df-82fe-d704a71da246
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Date deposited: 05 Jul 2022 04:11
Last modified: 05 Jul 2022 04:11
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Author:
Paul Everill
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