Theoretically, yeah; but here (in germany) we have the problem that a lot of
archaeologist students are still discouraged from getting practical
experience, because that's for "technicians"
So their review of data quality is often fairly dubious at best
So on the Cologne subway project, for example (touted as being the largest
construction project in Europe right now) most of the digging is done by
students (many from other disciplines) who can come in one day a week to
supplement their income up to a maximum of 400 euros a month; in Saxony we
were working with long-term unemployed on government make-work programs:
alcoholics, housewives, etc.
& of course you can't compare that to ROPA/IFA standards found elsewhere
So everyone is always trying to figure out how the competition cuts prices &
wins contracts
So they look to see if drawings were really done by hand (as stipulated in
the guidelines), or done digitally and then "copied" later, etc.
One of my bosses said it didn't matter about my soil descriptions,
interpretations, etc., as long as - when I said a profile was 2.45m wide -
that it was 2.45m wide on the drawing, too, because that's all that was
checked by the "lead agency professional reviews"

-----Original Message-----
From: HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Ron May
Sent: October 18, 2006 01:37
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Publishing (was Industrial Archaeology debate)

There are two good reasons for tracking down all previous reports. First,
in 
order to assess the progress made on addressing regional research designs.  
Second, to ensure that data recovered in a survey/test/ or major recovery  
program actually contributes to the cumulative body of data on the research

topic. If the lead agency professionally reviews the work and makes sure
everyone 
is on the same page with regards to acres surveyed, distance between  
surveyors, quantities tested or recovered, and the research design
demonstrates  equal 
understanding of what has been investigated up to that point, then there  
should be no room for undercutting (ie. lowballing) in proposals. If they
are  
all on the same page, then it should come down to hiring less expensive help
or  
taking deeper cuts in the overhead or profit margin of the contract.