I must take a close look at the standards; up until now I've been relying
on other peoples' summaries. I have little patience for bureaucratic
pigeonholes, but realize that these are meaningful categories for some
realms of work and decision-making.
I'd hesitate to subsume IA within Historical Archaeology. Without
resurrecting our thread of last August, I'd argue that the perspectives
brought to industrial sites must include some
experience/training/background in matters not typically included in ha as
it is taught and/or learned. I would not entrust the discovery,
excavation, interpretation of a mill complex to someone whose experience
was limited to recording domestic trashpits, any more than I'd expect a
saturated midden on the NW Coast to be excavated and evaluated by a
prehistorian who had never left Arizona. CRM clients, corporate or
governmental, should be seeking appropriate expertise to solve their
problems. If they cannot judge the credentials necessary for their
particular situation, then the practicioners must. Someone must assure
that consultants possess the appropriate knowledge, experience, and
capabilities to accomplish the work, whether it is an archaeologist or an
engineer. These standards are an important means of acheiving that
assurance.
Unfortunately, the existing standards regarding "related" disciplines,
while meant to be inclusive of "grandparents", result in allowing some
clearly unqualified folks to slip through the cracks. If anything, the
current excercise in standard-setting should tighten up requirements, not
loosen them.
Must run. More later, perhaps.
Pat Martin
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Patrick E. Martin, Associate Professor of Archaeology
Director of Graduate Studies in Industrial Archaeology
Editor of IA, the Journal of the Society for Industrial Archaeology
Department of Social Sciences, Michigan Technological University
1400 Townsend Drive, Houghton, Michigan 49931-1295 USA
Telephone (906) 487-2070 Fax (906) 487-2468 Internet [log in to unmask]
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