Ben Aaronovitch Quote

How many thefts have there been?’ I asked.‘That depends on how you define it,’ said Adrian.Because material went missing off sites all the time, which is why important finds were collated and secured the day they were found.Important in archaeological terms not always being the same as valuable – at least not in the fenceable sense. Archaeology came in all shapes, sizes, and apparent degrees of nickableness.‘We wouldn’t have even noticed some of the thefts if they hadn’t been important to the context,’ said Adrian.Context being the key concept of modern scientific archaeology, and what separates your modern professional from the fumbling archivists and swivel-eyed tomb raiders of the past. It’s a religion they share with scene of crime technicians and it had been drummed into me from my first day at Hendon.Context – where you find an object – is more important than the actual object. In policing it’s whether the broken glass is on the inside or the outside. In archaeology it’s whether that datable coin is found in the wall foundations or its demolition infill. You can live without the coin, but you need the dating information.