Hi Ian,
I agree that there is a distinction to be made between assemblages of artefacts or collections of ecofacts talked about generally as a group, and detailed recording of individual artefacts. That high-level documentation seems to me to be the level that HER officers are interested in (and that is the focus of our immediate discussion). However there clearly is a need for conservation and other post-excavation analysts to document their work in greater detail. The whole world of museum documentation standards exists to support that work, although maybe there are areas in which the museum standards aren't giving conservationists the standards they need?
There is a need for those detailed records also to exist in a standardised form to support re-use of the data, and internal consistency.
Maybe the museums folk out there would like to comment?
Ed
Data Standards Unit
You wrote
>
Perhaps the issue is whether we need to record every artefact that has been examined or whether we list the techniques that were employed during the course of the project - the latter would enable researchers to search on technique and they can then seek out the archive report which no doubt will contain the conservation assessment/analysis report.
Ian
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Ian Panter
Regional Advisor for Archaeological Science (Yorkshire)
English Heritage
37 Tanner Row
York
YO1 6WP
Tel. 01904 601983
Mob. 07967 706869
Fax. 01904 601999
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