Dear Colleagues,
I'm sure many of you know how difficult it is working out estimates for jobs
and justifying the time needed to a client.
I've been asked to estimate for a charcoal analysis job and always tend to
under-estimate this type of work. This leaves me working un-healthily long
hours with a sore back and my eyesight blurring as my contact lenses dry out
after staring down a microscope for too long.
At present I prefer to sub-sample, take out the oak first then keep going until
I run out of fragments (hence the sore back and de-hydrating contact lenses).
I've four charcoal rich samples to quote for. My client is sieving out anything
larger then 2mm. Do I sub-sample hugely? Do I say each sample will take me
half a day (3.5 hours ) each and see how many fragments I manage to id until
the time runs out? Is it the norm to identify c100 fragments from each sample
then stop? Should I keep going until new species cease to appear?
I need something detailed to tell my client. They are tendering for this post-ex
with a new client themselves so want to make a good impression. I've asked
them for a copy of previous charcoal analysis so I can see what they're
expecting.
Any tips or names to 'drop' will be appreciated. You're welcome to reply to me
off list and I'll collate any answers incase anyone else has this type of problem.
best wishes,
Lisa
( Lisa Gray MSc MA AIfA, Freelance Archaeobotanist, www.lisagray.co.uk)
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