tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1228690739485734684.post4529097186430440902..comments2024-03-28T00:46:01.084+00:00Comments on Stonehenge and the Ice Age: CBA pitches in to culture debateBRIAN JOHNhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00413447032454568083noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1228690739485734684.post-86394915092909321892016-01-16T15:57:24.944+00:002016-01-16T15:57:24.944+00:00I would go so far as to say that the funding appli...I would go so far as to say that the funding applicants (the team digging at Rhosyfelin and Carn Goedog) have broken research protocols by failing to report on past digging seasons before asking for money for future digs; and that the people charged with spending public money wisely (the Royal Archaeological Institute, the Society of Antiquaries, the National Museum of Wales and the Cambrian Archaeological Association) have been culpable in failing to check adequately on the progress of the project and to realistically question some of the outrageous claims being made (on the basis of the most questionable "evidence") in the period 2011-2015 by the project leaders.BRIAN JOHNhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00413447032454568083noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1228690739485734684.post-22067749514177042672016-01-16T10:33:21.080+00:002016-01-16T10:33:21.080+00:00I would like to see an obligation on archeologists...I would like to see an obligation on archeologists to provide a public report of findings with a short but reasonable time-frame, say 12 months, in return for a permission to dig. In Prescelli a lot of digging has been done without public reports of any kind.<br /><br />By the way, do you know Brian what was found at Velindre this past summer when rumour had it a stone circle was been sought? Or Castell Mawr for that matter?<br /><br />By proper reporting I do not mean a line on a overhead slide or a contribution to an article in a magazine. They should tell us simply what they found, please. Perhaps such a new requirement properly belongs in the new white paper on our cultural heritage. Letter to the Minister anybody :))chris johnsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16210890033354730381noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1228690739485734684.post-60789684662849348492016-01-13T14:23:10.099+00:002016-01-13T14:23:10.099+00:00Your previous point is a good one, Chris -- about ...Your previous point is a good one, Chris -- about the "strategic" or political need for a coherent and striking historical and prehistoric narrative. That is, I think, what currently drives archaeology -- the need for telling a striking story, and not the need for rigorous scholarship. <br /><br />Nothing much changes -- I recall doing some posts a very long time ago on this blog about the "political context" of HH Thomas's "breakthrough" on the provenances of the bluestones. Even back in the aftermath of WW1, there was a strategic imperative to have a better story than the Germans -- and the need to show that the Ancient Brits were capable of wondrous feats which the rest of the world would just have to admire from a distance. I even think that he falsified -- or used very selectively -- the evidence he had, so as to make his narrative of human transport all the more exciting. And of course he was after notoriety and glory as well -- so, as I said, nothing changes.........BRIAN JOHNhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00413447032454568083noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1228690739485734684.post-53251455904810846542016-01-13T13:26:07.508+00:002016-01-13T13:26:07.508+00:00Indeed. I have not followed the discussion on cult...Indeed. I have not followed the discussion on culture at all but one assumes that an attempt will be made to define the major components of a British culture that will justify investment and recognition. A commitment to scientific rigor and objective fact based work will, I assume, be an element in the cultural coat of many colours that is to be designed.<br /><br />The woolly thinking evidenced in the CBA document is not something one would want to take forward into a white paper on Culture - I hope. There is lots of fat for trimming.chris johnsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16210890033354730381noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1228690739485734684.post-30553291793894247632016-01-13T08:54:11.093+00:002016-01-13T08:54:11.093+00:00Right on the nail, Jon!Right on the nail, Jon!BRIAN JOHNhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00413447032454568083noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1228690739485734684.post-84477805266427832622016-01-13T08:48:57.228+00:002016-01-13T08:48:57.228+00:00I read it. It's unfortunate that the writers h...I read it. It's unfortunate that the writers have tried to equate archaeology with historic assets. Whilst related, these are not the same thing because non-preservative archaeological funding could cease entirely for a decade or two without significantly affecting historic assets. <br /><br />What particularly struck me was that you could replace archaeological related terms with knitting related terms and the document would still work (if you were trying to promote the social benefits of knitting as a good use of public funding).Jon Morrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11264966739582178631noreply@blogger.com