Stele controversy

Dear Diary,

Between the 3rd and 5th of February this year Charles-Phillip Clarke of Arrowhead Archaeology (along with myself) unearthed five pieces of an inscription from an excavation in 5 High East Street, in Dorchester. Everyone who was involved acted completely unprofessionally. Steve Wallace of the Council stated outright that no funds were available to continue the excavation beyond a short window of three days which we had been allotted. (Interestingly he has enough public funds available to renovate his house). Phil was not paid by the site owner, and I excavated on an empty stomach the entire time. Alas, when Kirsty from the Portable Antiquities Scheme arrived she told me that "I have been trying to get into Britannia for years". Sure enough, today I hear that she has tried to bypass Phil (who is the only person with a proper plan and report from the archaeological site) and get herself into Britannia. I expected this to happen and so emailed them as soon as possible after the excavation was completed (I have not heard back from them). Furthermore, Kirsty told Jackie Triana (the site owner) that "the inscription is worth a lot of money." Jackie is a spitting image of Josiah Bounderby from Dicken's Hard Times. She owns several properties but had the gaul to say to us, "you see these clothes I am in?" (filthy work rags) "they are the best clothes I own." As a result of this wrong appraisal (because the good Doctor assures me that the inscription is worth very little in monetary terms - its true value is in historical worth) that before we could even make a rubbing or draw it properly the pieces were whisked away as if by magic.

It gets worse. When the people from the museum arrived they told me "we will take this off her, and if she squeals we will charge her £500 for the curation." This is tantamount to the mafia. In any case, the most precious jewel of all, as a result of this malpractise, ended up in the right hands. The hands of one more deserving than the selfishness, corruption and sheer egoist unprofessionalism of those involved in the project.