Julian Cope presents Head Heritage | The Modern Antiquarian Forum

jimit

1053 posts

Re: Well done EH and all concerned

Dec 30, 2007, 11:35

Thanks for your measured reply Fitz. I for one have no intention of joining any slanging match here or elsewhere.
Re the poly bags... I am sort of coming round to your point of view...natural materials would degrade and migrate and contaminate other sensitive remains but they still grate nonetheless.
When Fachna McAvoy wrote the article (May 2005) you quote, the excavations had not started and the conclusions as to the state of the interior of Silbury were of course speculative. EH cannot be blamed for going ahead on the recommendations of their experts.
Once inside, however, I'm sure they were shocked at the state of the tunnels and voids, the twisted Atkinson arches, the continuing collapses and the dangers of working there. I'm sure there have been many ad hoc decisions made as the excavations continued and when the final report is published it will make fascinating reading. With hindsight will they say "If we knew then........We would have done it differently"?
IMHO the updates have been rather terse and has anyone got any answers from "Ask the experts"?
If anyone out there has reliable info from the horse's mouth as it were, surely it is in the public interest to post it here so that fruitless speculation can be ended and a sober and adult debate continued. All everyone wants is the best possible preservation for Silbury that the early 21stC is capable of. We criticise heavily previous excavations, let's make sure that future generations do not say the same about us.
Jim.

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Well done EH and all concerned (fitzcoraldo)

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