Design vs Dogma: Reflections on Field Archaeology
The Rhind Lectures presented by Professor Martin Carver, University of York
Friday 23rd April to Sunday 25th April 2010
Lecture 6
We come back home and look at the implications of this kind of thinking for archaeological procedures in this country. Scotland in many ways has an advanced form of archaeological management, and a high level of practice, as well as one of the world’s most exciting prehistories and multi-period landscapes. It has an opportunity to lead Europe and attract attention across the Atlantic by applying new approaches and procedures. Our aim could be and should be to design archaeology into the life of society, rather than designing it out.
Envoi
If archaeological investigation is what I think it is, society will need to look at it in an entirely new way. The reconnaissance of archaeological assets is a continuous process of learning and doing: every country needs its Royal Commission. Every deposit is worthy of evaluation before it is destroyed: we have won that battle in most, but by no means every country. Our task is not to preserve a deposit by record, but to extract its contribution to knowledge. This doesn’t mean taking it apart using standard methods of excavation. It means studying it, with any methods that can make it mean more. It means that our best brains, in and out of the university, should be focussed on design.
The Lectures
The purposes of archaeological investigation in the field, its methods and the circumstances in which it is deployed, have diversified radically in recent years. Half a century has passed since Mortimer Wheeler gave his Rhind Lectures on ‘Archaeology from the Earth,' so it seems a good moment to reflect on what the international academy, the profession, government and society want from archaeological fieldwork, and how their diverse agendas might be addressed to the mutual benefit of all.
The Lecturer
Martin Carver is emeritus professor of archaeology at the University of York, Editor of Antiquity and the author of Archaeological Investigation (Routledge, 2009). He has undertaken or advised on field projects in England, Scotland, Sweden, France, Italy and Algeria, including numerous commercial projects and major research campaigns at Sutton Hoo (Suffolk) and Portmahomack (Easter Ross).
The 2010 Rhind Lectures were presented in the Royal Society of Edinburgh Wolfson Lecture Theatre and recorded by the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland using Camtasia software, and produced as MP4 files available to view and download from Screencast and now YouTube
