4. HOW TO USE THE GUIDE#

The Guide is aimed at everyone involved in any archaeological activity that produces an archive and all those involved in the care and curation of those archives, whether that archive consists of two of sheets of paper detailing an archaeological observation or comprises a wealth of both documentary records and material evidence.

It is accepted that there will always be differing practices and approaches to archaeology within various European countries. For example, in many states or countries the material archive is separated for long term storage from the project documentation, whereas in others they are seen as an integral whole and are always kept together. It is right and just that differing practices exist, and this publication does not seek to challenge or change national, regional, local or other systems which work and which preserve the archive in a good condition for posterity. Rather the Guide sets out best practice principles, actions and tasks for archaeological archiving which can overlay and work alongside more detailed archaeological standards and practices that exist elsewhere.

Here, the term ‘archaeologist’ applies to all those involved in the archaeological process, such as field and finds workers, illustrators, photographers, conservator-restorers, surveyors and curators. The Guide applies equally to students and amateur archaeologists as it does to those undertaking archaeology in a professional capacity. The Guide is also intended for use by those involved in monitoring and commissioning archaeological activities.

Throughout the Guide reference is made to the practices and standards of various administrative entities that may include nations, states, regions, cantons, shires, cities or towns. It is not desirable to list all of those variants every time such distinctions are made. The phrase national, regional or local is therefore applied throughout to signify geographically defined administrative entities of all types.

The Guide is comprised of three main sections accompanied by a bibliography and a glossary of terms.

  • The Standard sets out standards which must be met by everyone involved in the archaeological archiving process. It is intended as a suite of standards for adoption by all academic, government, practising, commissioning, professional and monitoring bodies in the field of archaeology.
  • The Guidance is meant to lead any archaeologist, in whatever capacity, through their responsibilities towards the archive from the very start of the archaeological process to the end result of long term curation in a repository. It follows a logical and chronological line through any archaeological activity, via the broad stages each piece of archaeological work normally follows. It sets out the practices which should be followed during these stages in order to produce a stable, ordered, internally consistent and accessible archaeological archive.
  • The Archiving Checklist sets out what archiving tasks the personnel involved in an archaeological project should be doing at each stage of a project. Anyone playing a part in an archaeological project, whether this involves working in the field, laboratory or office, or in any specialist capacity, should be able to look at the templates (country and state specific ones can be found here) and see when and how they need to follow the archive process at any point in an archaeological project.


Back to the Introduction to the Guide