Ned H wrote:
>Since there was no money to speak of, we selected the most important
endangered sites, and somehow managed to get a few sites dug.
 
Hey, I'm as nostalgic about the old days as anyone [oy vay, don't get me
started!], but for all its problems CRM sponsored excavations do, in
general, produce technical reports. In contrast, a lot of the old timey
"get out there on the weekend and salvage the site" produced only boxes of
artifacts, some inteligible notes, and a lot of good stories...
 
>University programs
have been transformed from research and education into revenue producers, 
so few of them can be driven by a research agenda
 
Ned makes a good point. But it's also true to say that some/many university
programs wouldn't exist at all without the ability to pay for themselves. 
Many of the "research" unversities, such as the University of California, 
have never needed or wanted to get into CRM. In contrast, the lowly
California State University [where I work] has little interest in paying
for archaeological research programs; so if it wasn't for CRM oportunities
I don't think there'd be much in the way of practical archaeology taught in
these institutions.
 
On a completely different subject...
I got to watch "Time Team" on the TV for the first time while visiting my 
dear old mother in England this summer. The thing that really amazed me was
that it is shown at 8 o'clock in the evening. Imagine that: archaeology ca
be such an audience draw that it is competitive during TV's "prime time"
hour. My hat is off to the Team -- especially Phil Harding who has been
wearing the same leather jacket since the dig at Caerwent in 1973; he sure
got his money's worth out of that piece of clothing.
 
Happy trails to you... until we (virtually) meet again,
 
Adrian Praetzellis