Mark Dinnin, Nicki Whitehouse and Richard Lindsay respond to the recent threat to denotify the SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Interest) of Thorne and Hatfield Moors. In an impassioned argument, justified using environmental evidence painstakingly gathered by archaeologists and palaeoecologists working in the area, they argue that the interpretation of existing legislature has been internally inconsistent, perhaps largely due to a lack of consultation between official bodies. Making an elegant case, they suggest that those responsible for the future of raised mires must consider palaeoecological research in both the planning process and programmes of protective legislation (and there's a happy ending!).

Fred McGhee, in a strongly worded article, looks 'Towards A Postcolonial Nautical Archaeology'. Taking a stance which is critical of the way in which marine archaeology has unconsciously reproduced histories redolent with colonial agendas, he draws on Said's work on 'orientalism' to argue that there are many other versions of the past to be told.

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