Archaeology in the UK Today: Money, Power and Politics Robert Somers & Kathleen Hawthorne
Lecture 1 Introduction and overview of archaeology in the UK today Lecture 2 How did it get that way? History and theory behind present-day practice Lecture 3 The future archaeology in the 21 st century
Archaeology in the UK Today Public The Media Societies & Clubs
Public Archaeology Who owns the past?
What is the single most important force in archaeology today? $$$
Clubs and Societies Public Archaeology 445 local archaeological societies Membership from 45 to 3,000 per club/society Activities include monthly meetings, newsletters, Interested excavations, members travel of the public constitute one of the clubs. largest sources of income for archaeology.
The Media Films, TV & Radio (33 programmes on BBC last week alone) Time Team National Archaeological Day The media is responding to public demand Public Archaeology
Cause and Effect? public interest & the media government policy, research & rescue archaeology
Archaeology in the UK Today Public Rescue The Media Societies & Clubs Private Contract Firms Independen t Consultants
Archaeological units 167 Private contracting firms Employ full-time staff as well as temporary field workers Gain their income from providing services such as: evaluations, excavation, post-excavation, heritage management, heritage interpretation Rescue Archaeology
An example of how the public is important to a rescue unit - Oxford Archaeology Helping people to access and understand their heritage is at the heart of Oxford Archaeology's mission. For over 30 years our archaeologists have been sharing the results of our work with the community through site tours and open days, schools' events, volunteer excavations, illustrated talks and evening classes. We work with Time Team, and other popular television programmes, which have featured several of our sites and discoveries. We know that visiting a major excavation can be an unforgettable experience for many people, especially those from the local community, for whom the long history of their town or village gives a very special sense of place. Children are often fascinated by archaeology too, and we believe it is vitally important to create opportunities for them to share in the excitement of discovery. Visit our Community Project Gallery to see what we have been doing recently and Events Diary to find out what we are planning for the future. And come along, bring the family and join in!
Archaeology in the UK Today Public Rescue Research The Media Societies & Clubs Private Contract Firms Independen t Consultants Universities Museums
Research Archaeology Universities 27 universities offer degrees in archaeology 552 separate degrees available Future archaeologists are trained here in many different aspects of archaeology, including the British way of digging single context planning.
Archaeology of Human Origins Archaeology of Food GIS & Spatial Analysis Landscape Archaeology Industrial Archaeology Archaeology of Information Systems The Fashion Industry Marine Archaeology in Ancient Egypt Archaeology of Buildings Environmental Archaeology
The impact of public interest on research archaeology Many applications for university places - Resulting in increasing numbers of degrees offered, & therefore more job positions for researchers & lecturers Re-examination of archaeological theory who owns the past, and are other interpretations or ways of doing things also valid? - Archaeology grows up Too many graduates looking for jobs!
Museums 647+ museums Collect archaeological material and make it available for further research Engaging the public is becoming more important than merely collecting artefacts The past is a story which should be interpreted and told to the public, not just recorded and presented Research Archaeology
Archaeology in the UK Today Public Rescue Research Caretakers The Media Societies & Clubs Private Contract Firms Independen t Consultants Universities Museums English Heritage Ministry of Culture, Youth & Sports
Archaeology as a career in the UK Estimates from survey: 6000 + professional archaeologists (increasing every year) 35 different archaeological professions average annual income - 18,000 (lev 50,500) (lower than national average) highest-paid archaeologist earns 100,000 per annum (lev 300,000) most work as contractors or consultants (35%)
University of London Birkbeck College Location central London Two departments offer archaeology degrees Further Education; & the School of History and Classics Check out www.bbk.ac.uk
LAARC London Archaeological Archive & Research Centre Part of Museum of London the largest city museum in the world Partner with Birkbeck Searchable on-line archive www.museumoflondon.org.uk/laarc
The Archaeological Process
Archaeology is a non-renewable resource
Threats to Archaeology Development Looting Mining Farming Archaeologists!
Archaeology is protected by the planning process PPG16 Curators job to protect and monitor Developers must submit to the curators demands Archaeological units are paid by the developer to undertake the necessary investigation
Standard archaeological investigation Desktop assessment Field evaluation Preservation either in situ, or by record Post-excavation Publication Dissemination
Desktop assessment What is the aim? Maps Researching neighbouring sites Old photos & aerial photos Any previous excavations in the area
Field Evaluation What is the aim? Trial trenches Environmental investigation Geophysical survey Site survey
In situ or by record? Preservation In situ By record Developer must alter building plans MAP2: project management - from planning to dissemination
What does it mean? Preservation by record Physical site is destroyed, but it is preserved by recording the process of excavation or destruction Before excavation, research questions must be formulated, and the curator must agree Before excavation, money must be available for conservation, publication & dissemination of results
Single Context Planning Every single action, whether it leaves a positive or negative trace is excavated and recorded as a different event or context Every single context is recorded as a deposit or a cut and given a separate number Every context is described on an individual context sheet, drawn on tracing paper to scale and its 3-d co-ordinates are recorded All finds from a context are kept together and labelled with the context number The aim is to be able to reconstruct the site using the context sheets and drawings, layer by layer, at the end of the excavation
The Site Matrix In recording the stratification of a site using a single context recording system, a very large number of separate records are produced. The inter-relating of these records is the central process in understanding the site sequence. For this purpose archaeologists in the UK have adopted the Harris matrix. The Harris matrix provides a simple method of relating one context to another.
The Site Matrix 1 1 2 3 2 3
Excavation? During the course of an excavation a variety of methods and technology are used to help extract more detailed information and to speed up the recording process On-site specialists Sampling policies Sieving and flotation tanks Geomatics
Post-excavation What it is? Database, Digitisation, GIS Analysis Team meetings Excavation Reports Specialist Reports
Publication Different levels of publication On-going debate who owns the past? The public or the specialists?
Dissemination Storage issues Public access Internet, ADS
Any questions?