In a candid insight into the reality of 'Heritage Management' in the field and the broader structure of British Archaeology, Paul Graves-Brown discusses the polluter pays principle and its effects on rescue archaeology. He argues that all archaeologists need to be aware of the political implications of the way in which archaeology is funded and so driven by development, and he makes a passionate appeal for a deeper commitment to a more public archaeology.

Michael Tierney from the University of Wales, Lampeter, writes an open letter to the editor on the beginnings of the Radical Archaeology Forum. As an alternative to present institutional voices for archaeologists, he advocates the setting up of an open, rolling forum for discussion, grounded in the need to champion peoples' lives in the past and their 'livings' in the present. Do you feel powerless, frustrated, outraged, by the structures and conditions within which you work? If so, Michael Tierney argues for finding a way of speaking out.

Is there anything that YOU would like to say about the practice of archaeology? Have you any concerns about the way we work within the discipline? assemblage is committed to providing a social and political forum of its own for your thoughts. If you want to share them with other archaeologists, write to us!

Click here to read the other concerns that have been recently voiced about the practice of archaeology.

© assemblage 1997