I am wondering about possible unwanted effects of publicity around sites you excavate. For instance have you seen effects that people (after you did a dig) started digging for themselves, used metal detectors (even though it is illegal) or other activities (vandalism, etc.).
Sometimes people think that publicity will increase this and 'lower' the (perceived?) protection of sites and I was wondering what the measures are one could take to minimize these effects.
To be honest, I like your programs; it makes archaeology much more accessable by the public, which is VERY important.
Even without publicity it is hard to avoid advertising the fact an excavation is on esp. in central urban locations.
We had someone trespassing on our site at night, they must have climbed in or over the fence risking their neck or falling down a hole etc. i am sure that a lot of the tresspassers know what they are doing and are well organised and travel some distance etc.
Most of the local publicity occurs very late on or after the dig is over and only general details are disclosed.
i did not hear about the dig i am on until had been going at least 3 months and only then because i was doing the university certificate. THere was a a good reason or two for keeping publicity off 1) developers specified they didnt want any and 2) sensitive nature of some of the materials being excavated where public ignorance and prurience are big factors against having an open or publicity outside the archie community.
i have not took my camera on site or even asking about doing some photography because i want to remain on good terms with the unit and the site director who i am volunteering for.
As most of the digs are rescue ones i can understand why there was such a long gap between my first two digs and my current one.
A lot of community archaeology goes on in leicestershire it is mainly fieldwalking and possibly some test pits and just a few local rural digs run by societies which you never hear about. THere seems to be more of this in Northants - with at least two or three run by local societies but i am not an expert!
Victor hiya ,don't forget that TT are on lot's of sites,because they are invited by either a detectorist or informed of one by a member of the public ,so are guests themselvs. If a site is protected,then the team will either be onlookers,or have to seek special permisson,but as the 3 day dig is frowned on by many working archaeological field units,it begs the question what are TT doing there in the first place? If I remember rightly,they have been kicked off the odd site or two in the past,it makes for good entertainment,but lacks the cut and thrust of a ''proper'' dig. Regards km.
Kevmar - A good pinch of salt is needed when listening to some sources.
In the early days of TT, they were invited mostly by members of the public, but as time went on the invitations taken up were more often from archaeologists.
Sure - some archaeologists have been known to mutter disparagingly about TT's 3-day digs. Naturally. The day all archaeologists praise each other's work will be one for the books. But the reality is that units do short evaluation digs as well.
I am not aware of Time Team being "kicked off" any site. Given that they get permissions sorted out well in advance, that's scarcely likely to happen.
and some not very short evaluation digs! imagine doing a short evaluation dig on a graveyard in an urban location or even one in a rural location.
i imagine though i am only just starting to find out about these things the units do whatever has been agreed with the developers. if its not in the script it wont be done even if it looks more tasty than lifting the more conventional archaeology.
And no they dont like publicity they dont want people crawling all over their site with metal detectors. no press. luckily the press dont seem to be that keen on archaeology?
