Inspired by a press report that a military re-enactment on a historic battlefield had to be cancelled after the re-enactors, establishing camp for the night according to the principle of doing things exactly as the originals would have done, uncovered previously unsuspected things of archaeological interest pertaining to the actual battle.
Meanwhile, the Guild of Archaeologists has raised the question of access for its members, pointing out that the Guild of Delveologists does not appear on the professional register of Anhk-Morpork Trade Guilds, and that they are the recognised profesional authority in these matters. Guild head Mr Robinson has noted Professor Dibbler's academic degrees were conferred by the Scrote Mill University and is sure they are the best that money can buy, especially by mail order. He has also pointed out that legend, supported by possibly unvalidated allegedly historical sources, preserves the story that the commander of what turned out to be the side that came second at Blossoms Bottom buried the army's treasure chest somewhere on the site, "just in case". While he is sure this is just embellished legend, Mr Robinson suggested locating this fabled artefact could be Professor Dibbler's principal motive.
Mr Robinson stressed that gold and silver artefacts really aren't all that interesting or informative to the professional academic archaeologist, and indeed say very little about everyday life of the period compared to, say, broken shards of a pot or scraps of long-decayed old footwear. But he remains temperamentally and professionally opposed to amateurs going in and wantonly looting a promising site. This, he thinks, should be left to the professionals, which is why he is sending in Miss Alice Band to emphasise their Guild's clear interest on this site. Miss Band, a dual-qualified Assassin-Archaeologist, teaches History, Archaeology, Climbing, Traps and Evasion at the Assassins' Guild School, and comes with long experience of Stealth Archaeology, a Guild specialism. The Times notes that this is usually interpreted as "getting off-site with the loot before anybody notices".