LOOKING
AHEAD
using their own photographic and printing Conscientious readers of the Archeological Journal will know that our group was foun< resources and therefore lacks the. polish of a fully professional publication. in the mid 70's with appropriate ceremon'Proof' is certainly not (and was never inial and a characteristically entertaining tended to be) a vehicle for the publication speech from Sir Mortimer Wheeler, surely the most renowed archeologist of the 20th of reports of excavations or similarly scholarly articles. It does however century. provide a forum which could be used for A decade later we survive as the Archeoinformal discussion of the methods used in logical and Heritage Group, with about 200 . site photography and the like. members, a full programme of events, an annual conference, a regular series of But the Editor can· only print what he reoutings to a wide variety of places of ceives, and this is normally the illustrated interest and a Christmas party, ali duly accounts of the Group's activities provided by members of the Committee combined recor~ed in "Proof", the Group's Newsletter. with items of interest the Editor himself However, in recent months the Group has collects from other publications. been criticised for failing to matcti up with We must ther.efore admit we have become the ideals expressed at the inaugural largely a Heritage rather than an Archeolmeeting, or to achieve the standards ogical Group, and that the numer of Group worthy of a learned Society. These criticisms are, of course, of the Group as a. members who take any active part in our whole, not just of the Group Committee· or affairs is very small. So where can and do of the Editor of Proof, since the Comm- we go from here? ittee's role is to provide the services the In the first instance the Committee has Group members require, and likewise the agreed to spend more on the production of Editor of 'Proof' can only print what 'Proof', and the quality of reproduction material he receives. should improve accordingly. But that on Are these criticisms justified, and if so, its own is not enough. what are we going to do about it? Write to the Editor about your archeological interests and experiences, no matter It is firstly worth noting that the what they may be. Surprisingly, if they Chairman at the inaugural meeting took interest you they will also interest other care to define archeology in the broadest like-minded people. Why not come along terms. He stated that we had to be clear to one of our meetings where you will find that "archeological photography" covered that the Group provides precisely what the the whole range of antiquities, not only Vice-President of the RP WS referred to at excavations, and included the photography the inaugural meeting:of coins, the photography of museums, and the photography of ancient monuments as "An opportunity for people with photogthey stand i_n the fields. raphic interests to gather together for meetings; conversations and exchanges of Our recent programme, with visits to thoughts to build up and improve the places as diverse as Westminster Abbey, standards of archeological photography". Windsor Castle, the home of Charles Darwin and the Photographic Department However, the amount of attention devoted of the British Museum, fits this pattern to excavations and related subjects will well - with one exception. We have not only increase of field archeologists within visited a single excavation. the Group decide to play a more active If this happens then other excavThe reason for this is quite simple. When role. ators may also decide to join the Group visits to excavations have been arranged, and this could lead to something really and there have been a number in recent worthwhile. years, few if any of the Group members have turned up. If we are honest, we must Never forget that the photographic recor also admit that the number of Group of an excavation is the only (nearly) obmembers who turn up at any of our jective record of something that is usual!) meetings is small, usually comprising the to be destroyed, so that any improvemen: the Committee and "1-ie'- families. in the quality of that record is something to be welcomed. In a sense the same th) g can be said of 'Proof'. This is proi"•Jiced at cost by The achievement of such an improvemen· members of the Group 1n their own time is surely an· objective worthy of an learned Society. Dr M.R. Apted
