Robert M Chapple, Archaeologist

[** If you like this post, please make a donation to the IR&DD project using the secure button at the end. If you think it is interesting or useful, please re-share via Facebook, Google+, Twitter etc. To help keep the site in operation, please use the amazon search portal at the end of the post - each purchase earns a small amount of advertising revenue**] Last Friday (19th July) I ventured out from my desiccatingly cooled and air-conditioned fortress into the Belfast sunshine. My plan was simple – go to St George’s Market; purchase lunch; retreat from sunshine; consume lunch. This was simple and effective – or so I thought! It was all going well until I passed a second hand book stall and spotted ‘The post-medieval archaeology of Ireland, 1550–1850’ … for £10. This was a book that retailed for £65 (if I remember correctly) when it first came out. That wasn’t a problem. Neither was the fact that volume two (Ireland and Britain in the Atlantic World) was also there … also for a...

[** If you like this post, please make a donation to the IR&DD project using the secure button at the end. If you think it is interesting or useful, please re-share via Facebook, Google+, Twitter etc. To help keep the site in operation, please use the amazon search portal at the end of the post - each purchase earns a small amount of advertising revenue**] I’m afraid that I’m becoming ‘that’ guy. I’m becoming the old dude who harangues the younger generation about how they don’t know how good they’ve got it. I’m turning into a one-man version of that famous Monty Python sketch . But it’s true! The younger generation don’t know how good they’ve got it! Take books, for example. These days there are any number of places where you can find the latest research on line. Admittedly, all too frequently, it’s held just out of reach behind a pay wall … but it is there and it can be found. When I was first in university the only way to search for a particular volume was by trawling...

I have been asked to share and publicise this call by the  Institute of Archaeologists of Ireland seeking individuals who have worked in archaeology on the island of Ireland in the last 12 months. This is a very important survey that seeks to quantify the reality of employment in commercial archaeology at the present time. If you fit the criteria, I urge you to take the few moments necessary to complete the survey. Thank you all, Robert M Chapple **Update: Pay Rates Working Group  Survey has been extended to include anyone who has worked in Irish archaeology (RoI & NI) in the last three years. Deadline for submission is 31st July 2013** *           *           * The Pay Rates Working Group of the IAI are conducting two separate surveys of archaeologists and specialists who have worked for archaeological consultancies. This committee includes members and non-members of the IAI, archae...