Yet another dreary week ahead of us according to the weather men in Cornwall so I thought I’d while away a few minutes by starting a thread on any advice or tips we may all wish to offer newcomers to stoning in its various forms. I’ll kick it off but only mention one or two things leaving others to fill in their own gaps of importance which only experience leads us all to eventually.
First and foremost, my own experiences, both personal and seeing others at it, is that right from the onset go about it safely, thoroughly and meticulously as you can. I’ve been very lucky so far and at 66 years of age have stayed healthy both in wind and limb but it’s not the same for everyone so get the most out of this terrific hobby while you are fit and well and don’t leave yourself with regrets later in life if for health reasons or accidents you can’t revisit.
When I first started it was hurry, hurry, hurry to as many places as possible with the free time I had which as a working lad were weekends only aside from annual holidays. That was the first mistake I made because I was seeing dozens of sites but not ‘seeing’ them for what they were. I took very little detail other than take photos. It wasn’t until I got married and introduced my new family to it all that I realised I could tell them where I’d been but not what I’d ‘seen’.
Since then I’ve taken a much closer look at the sites I’ve visited and revisited and often battled to and taken much more detail down. Firstly it was with a notebook, then with a small personal recorder and now with a combination of camcorder/camera/notebook. And my sites have become a lot more selective and with a purpose in mind and not just random. I want to know what they are, what they are for and how they were used…not just to visit them and say, ‘Ah yes, there it is’.
Another thing is that I used to visit everything on my own, mainly because I didn’t get to meet anyone to share the hobby with and liked my own company, but if starting again would make more effort to go with a friend so that you get an interchange of ideas as you can get very set in your ways and miss the blindingly obvious making you look foolish later on. Some of the missions you will go on are hazardous and sometimes potentially dangerous, so a friend when in need can be of great comfort to you.
So, join a local archaeological group or forums such as TMA and meet like-minded folk. You don’t have to mix with them all the time if you are a loner type but they are there when you need them for both company and view sharing. Be generous with your own findings/thoughts/beliefs in return and never fear ridicule. Most of what we investigate/study/research is the unknown where even the cleverest of people don’t have proven answers for and may never will so don’t allow yourself to be put down if your views differ to theirs. In return you may well find that many of your questions get answered in the most unexpected of ways thus enriching your own ideas further.
So the bottom line from me is to get out there while you can in a safe way, note as much as you can in great detail, do great things with your research and leave NO regrets for the future when ‘getting out there’ becomes a thing of the past.
Over to you guys.